Water company no longer handling sewer/landfill fees

Beginning Sept. 1, Lexington residents will be receiving a new monthly bill.

At that time, Kentucky American Water will no longer be collecting fees for certain city services, so those fees will disappear from your water bill and come instead on a bill from LEXserv City Services.

The fees on the new bill will be for the city's landfill, sanitary sewers and water quality management. The rate of the fees and how they're calculated will not change.

For many years, the city paid Kentucky American $1.7 million annually for the billing service. Several months ago, the water company notified officials it would no longer provide that service.

"So now we have the same fees, just on two bills," Mayor Jim Gray said at a news conference Friday. "I continue to be deeply disappointed in Kentucky American's decision, but we've got to make lemonade out of this."

Susan Lancho, spokeswoman for the water company, said the change came because billing services are not part of Kentucky American's core services.

"Like any business, we're trying to do more with less and be more efficient," she said. "We determined over a year ago this was something we would not be able to continue to do."

Kentucky American's parent company has provided similar services to other cities where its subsidiaries provide water, with Lexington being its biggest customer. The billing service is being discontinued in all other cities, too, Lancho said.

Lexington will continue to rely on Kentucky American to provide data on water usage in order to process these new bills.

The landfill fee of $4.50 monthly pays for disposal of solid-water material in Lexington's landfill. If you don't receive city garbage pickup, this fee does not apply.

The sanitary sewer fee, based on the amount of water used by a customer, pays for maintenance and operation of the city's sanitary sewer system. If you are not connected to the city sewer system, this fee does not apply.

The $4.49 water quality management fee, which is assessed to all water customers, addresses stormwater issues in Lexington, including run-off that pollutes streams in Fayette County.

The city annually collects $65 million from the fees.

Starting in early September, the LEXserv bills will be mailed to approximately 115,000 residents.

There will be a number of ways to pay, including having it debited from your bank account, by mail and in person at city hall or selected retail locations.

"It's inconvenient. It's a little confusing — change always is," Gray said. "But this is what we have to do now."

Cincinnati Water Works was hired to administer the service and will be paid $700,000 more than Kentucky American charged. The city will pay the increase from the existing fees.

No Kentucky company submitted an application to be considered.

Blue Grass Mailing, in Lexington, will print, fold, sort and mail the bills to customers, said Bill O'Mara, the city's director of revenue.

Kentucky American collects at a rate of 98 percent, he said. "It will be a challenge for us to collect at this robust rate," he said.

People who do not pay will be assessed fines and penalties. For egregious non-payment, water service will be cut off, O'Mara said.

To learn more about LEXserv and payment options, visit Lexingtonky.gov/lexserv or call LexCall at 311 or 425-2255.

This story was originally published August 4, 2012 at 10:42 PM with the headline "Water company no longer handling sewer/landfill fees."