Leak balance remaining adjustment.
Houston Code of Ordinances § 47-74.1
in effectSec. 47-74.1. - Leak balance remaining adjustment.
(a) Any single-family residential customer with a leak balance remaining (LBR) may request a leak balance remaining adjustment. As used in this section the term leak balance remaining means a water bill amount due that is derived from excess usage that remains after the director's approval of a billing adjustment under section 47-74 of this Code. The LBR includes only water and sewer service charges on the customer's account and may include usage billed in consecutive months prior to or after the months adjusted under section 47-74 of this Code.
(b) To qualify for an LBR adjustment, the LBR must be greater than $1,000.00. For elderly customers who meet the eligibility criteria for elderly residents in section 36-62 (1) of this Code, the LBR must be greater than $100.00. Customers requesting an LBR adjustment shall submit an LBR adjustment application on a form prescribed by the director. The application form shall contain a statement requiring the applicant to affirm its understanding that the application is a government record subject to criminal prosecution for false statements under chapter 37 of the Texas Penal Code, and a statement that the application contains no false statements.
(c) A customer requesting an LBR must demonstrate that he:
(1) Is the named account holder of record at the time that the excusable defect occurred;
(2) Qualified for and received an adjustment under section 47-74 of this Code;
(3) Had an excusable defect in the line that was not a city-caused leak;
(4) Worked with the customer account services' (CAS) collections team and exhausted the CAS recommended assistance options prior to submitting the LBR adjustment application;
(5) Submitted the LBR adjustment application within 30 days after the date on which an approved adjustment for the defect in the customer's line appeared on the bill; and
(6) Had not received an LBR adjustment on the account during the past 12-month period.
(d) Upon receipt of a completed LBR adjustment application, the director shall review the application and if the director approves the application as being eligible for an adjustment under this section, the customer's bill shall be adjusted as follows:
(1) For customers with a leak balance remaining greater than $1,000.00, the leak balance remaining shall be adjusted to $1,000.00.
(2) Notwithstanding item (1) of this subsection, for eligible elderly customers with a leak balance remaining greater than $100.00, the leak balance remaining shall be adjusted to $100.00.
(e) The LBR billing adjustment will be applied to the customer's account upon full payment of the amount owed after the LBR adjustment.
(f) The director shall offer a customer who receives a LBR adjustment a payment agreement to pay any remaining balance on the account in monthly installments.
(g) In the event of extraordinary circumstances and when reasonable effort was made by customer to remedy the defect in the water line in a timely manner, the director may consider additional qualifying conditions as prescribed in departmental procedures.
(h) Within ten days of the customer notification of the LBR decision, the customer may request an internal review by the department; however, the decision of the director or the director's designee following the internal review is final. There are no rights for further administrative review, an administrative hearing, or any further proceedings or appeals regarding the LBR Adjustment Application and/or the LBR Adjustment under this section.
(i) Customers may receive no more than one LBR adjustment in any 12-month period for any one account.
(Ord. No. 2021-583, § 5, 6-30-2021; Ord. No. 2023-1127, § 4, 12-13-2023)
Source: City of Houston, Code of Ordinances and City Charter (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/tx/houston/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=COOR_CH47WASE_ARTIICIWASECH_DIV1GE_S47-74.1LEBAREADFetched: 10/26/2026