ROSSBURN TOWN UTILITY ANNUAL
BILLING CYCLE
Rossburn issues quarterly Town Utility (water and
sewer) bills. Residents receive their quarterly bill by mail at the beginning
of April, July, October, and January, which are then due at the end of the
month. The usual annual utility billing schedule
is below.
What do I need to do/know about the utility bill if I am
selling, buying or renting property in the Town of Rossburn?
- Allow
at least two business days' notice so that a final meter reading can be
arranged. Final readings cannot be back dated so they must be
arranged in order to issue a final utility bill.
- Do
not finalize the purchase until the vendor (seller) or their lawyer pays
the final utility invoice.
- The
Municipality may add unpaid utility bills to the current owner’s property
taxes if they remain unpaid.
- To
make sure that the Municipality only bills you for your consumption,
ensure a final meter reading and forwarding address is obtained for the
final utility bill.
- The
property seller should obtain the final meter reading even if they have a
tenant who is responsible for the utility bills who plans to rent from the
new owner.
- Outstanding
utility charges are the responsibility of the property owner and will be
transferred to property taxes.
- If
we do not receive information about a new tenant, we will automatically
put the utility account in the name of the property owner and the property
owner receives a utility bill for charges incurred by a tenant.
- Provide
the new owner/tenant information to the Municipality to set up the utility
account for the first meter reading, to ensure you are only billed for
your consumption.
What if a tenant vacates my property without paying the
utility bill?
The Municipality will first try to recover the money from
the tenant if we have a forwarding address for the tenant – we send the
tenant’s final utility bill to the forwarding address. If we do not have a forwarding address, we
send the tenant’s final utility bill to the service address on file. As the property owner you are responsible for
all unpaid utility charges for your property.
What can owners do to protect themselves against unpaid tenant utility bills?
- Ensure that the Municipality is aware of all properties belonging to you where a landlord/tenant relationship exists.
- The Municipality provides the property owner with a copy of each utility billing to see outstanding or unpaid amounts.
- The property owner can make arrangements with tenant(s) regarding payment of their utility bills in the rental agreement.
- If a utility bill remains seriously overdue, the Municipality sends a letter to the property owner advising that unless the account is paid by a certain date the account will be transferred to the property owner’s property taxes.
What is an estimated utility bill?
Your utility bill will indicate an ‘E’ after the reading
under the usage section for an estimated water reading; regular bills have an
‘A’ for actual in the usage section after the reading. If you receive an estimated bill you may
require a meter inspection. The Municipality estimates utility accounts if a
meter reading cannot be obtained at the service address during the quarterly
reading process. Utility invoices will
be estimated based on the utility account holder’s average previous
consumption.
To arrange for a meter inspection please contact the Municipal
Office and provide the following information:
- Utility account number
- Service address
- Utility Account holder name
- Contact information (phone number)
