The City of Cleburne has introduced the Water Bill Relief Program to assist Cleburne water customers who have suffered substantial hardships and financial loss due to Winter Storm Uri.
The City Council approved the program at its March 9 meeting. The program provides water customers, both residential and commercial, relief by capping increased usage due to leaks or other storm issues to $25.
“We found a good, easy, user-friendly approach to help folks who were hit the hardest," Mayor Scott Cain said.
The leak adjustment will be 40% of the increased billing due to the leak not to exceed $25. City staff will calculate the adjustment by determining an average usage for that month using the three previous years.
This one-time opportunity applies to any water bill customer for billing that includes water usage from Feb. 14 to March 23. Customers must request relief by contacting the Utility Billing department by no later than April 22.
The city created this program in response to the storm that saw water customers either letting water run to prevent pipes from freezing or recover from burst pipes that resulted in emergency leaks. As such, a significant amount of water was unintentionally disbursed. While the City currently has an ordinance in place addressing water leakage, it is structured to address standard leak issues and not substantive, widespread leaks resulting from an emergency type situation such as a major winter storm.
For more information contact the Utility Billing department at 817-645-0919.