Provider Wins Sewer Bill Fight
What if you sewer bill rose dramatically? And you received a notice that you must purchase a new permit for $100 and pay $1,000 for an additional connection fee?
That's what happened to family child care provider Arnetta Christensen from Tacoma, Washington earlier this year.
The reason?
Her home was reclassified as Commercial 1, rather than as a single family residence, as it had been for the more than twenty years Arnetta has been living in her home.
Arnetta contacted me for help and I asked her to track down a copy of the county ordinance that defined what was commercial vs. residential use.
She contacted the county sewer office, but was told any home-based business was considered commercial use and that they were going after all family child care providers in the county.
Arnetta finally got a copy of the ordinance which defined commercial use as "any structure not classified as a residential unit." Later it said, "a residential unit" is a "structure ... including private homes."
In state of Washington family child care homes may only care for up to twelve children. It looked like the county was confusing family child care with child care centers, and this was behind their reclassification.
With my help, Arnetta sent a letter to to the Director of Public Works and followed up with phone calls to the sewer billing office, pointing out that she met the definition of a "private home."
Eventually the billing office agreed with Arnetta that her home should be classified as residential use. Arnetta asked that she put this in writing.
Note: Although Arnette received a new bill with the correct amount of $89.95, she was very persistent in wanting something in writing that said she would be billed in the future as residential, not commercial use. Having such a letter would prevent a repeat of this in the future and could be used by other family child care providers who might face similar higher bills.
After much delay, Arnette did finally receive an email from the billing office confirming that family child care providers caring for less than twelve children would be considered residential, not commercial use.
After it was over, Arnette sent me a note: "I really appreciate all your help and support. Just continue encouraging providers to 'band together' and follow through. I was really tempted to let it go after they sent me a corrected bill but I wanted to share the policy with other providers. Standing together gives us strength."
Commentary
I've heard from other providers in similar situations across the country facing higher water and garbage bills. In nearly every situation the county or city backed off when providers pushed back.
The first step is to get a copy of the city or county ordinance to see if it applies to family child care, instead of centers. In almost all cases, the ordinances only apply to centers and the government officials didn't understand the difference between a home and a center.
In some situations the provider had to contact her county or city commissioners to make their case. In the end, however, persistence paid off.
Tom Copeland - www.tomcopelandblog.com
Image credit: https://www.pxfuel.com/en/search?q=sewer
