Hot news on the street in Ogden Valley. The word is that Lakeview Water Corporation
serving the Ski Lake area has been overcharging their customers for water
connection fees for years.
The information we have been able to gather is that the
previous owner of Lakeview Water overcharged most, if not all of the customers
of Lakeview Water $500 each above the approved tariff (rate) for water
connection fees than was approved by the Public Service Commission (PSC).
The overcharges may go back to the early years of the Lakeside
Village development.
The information we have obtained is that the PSC approved water
connection fee for each customer was $1,000 until January 2008, when the fee
was increased in a rate case to $3,500 for each customer. Some customers told us their bills for the
connection fees reflected $1,500 up to the rate increase in 2008 and others
said it was $4,000 after January 2008. Each
customer noted the $500 overcharge on his or her connection fee.
The actual amount of customers affected is not known at this
time, but Lakeview Water Corporation serves over 200 customers. That indicates that the overcharges could
amount to more than $100,000 dollars.
Some Lakeview Water customers we spoke to say they noted
their own overcharges recently and requested a refund from the new owner of
Lakeview Water. They said they were either ignored or told that the statute of
limitations had expired and Lakeview Water did not have to refund the money. The
new owner is squealing like a mashed cat about the refund requests from his
customers.
What is known is the new owner of Lakeview Water and
Mountain Sewer purchased the two corporations, at a bargain basement price and
that that purchase included 66 lots in the Ski Lake area. Those 66 lots alone are
worth about $8,250,000 at $125,000 per lot. This is also the same guy that is
asking for a $1,300 special assessment from each customer in order to recoup
the money to pay for employees salaries at Mountain Sewer that the previous
owner did not pay before the sale. This special assessment is in addition to
the 159% increase in the sewer fees
