News
New: Notice of Draft Local Authority Budget for 2012
29th November 2011:
Notice is hereby given that the Draft Local Authority Budget of Offaly County Council, for the financial year ending on 31st December 2012 has been prepared and will be considered by the Council at the Statutory Annual Budget Meeting to be held in the Council Chamber, Aras an Chontae, Tullamore on Monday 19th December 2011 at 2pm.
Water Supply and Sewage Charges
Offaly County Council is the Water Services Authority for the Town Councils and the County.
Water Charges:
Who is liable for water and sewage Charges?
Policy Background
How is the Charge Calculated?
Standing Charge
Billing
Who is liable for water and sewage charges?
Offaly Co. Council levies a charge for water supplied for non-domestic purposes such as commercial, agricultural and industrial use. Offaly County Council also levies a charge for sewage disposal in respect of connections to the Council Sewage Network. Therefore, if you have a water connection from Offaly County Council’s water network, water must be paid for on a metered basis. i.e. according to water consumption, and if you have a connection to the sewage system of Offaly County Council, a charge based on the level of water in/water out must be paid. The Local Government (Financial Provisions) Act, 1997 abolished the charge for domestic water supply and sewage disposal with effect from the 1st January 1997.
Policy Background
In accordance with the Governments consolidated Water Pricing Policy, all “non domestic” supplies are to be charged on a metered basis to recover operational costs of water provided and to achieve metering of all non-domestic customers. This is in accordance with the “polluter pays” principle and the requirements of Article 9 of the EU Water Framework Directive.
How is the charge calculated?
Water invoices are calculated by means of a metered charge based on the volume of water used.
The charge for customers who have a water and sewage connection is based on the basis of the “water in/water out” principle.
Standing Charge
The operational costs include both a fixed cost element and a variable cost element and Offaly County Council recovers its fixed costs through the standing charge. Please note that every utility provider has elements of fixed and variable costs and most major utility providers in this county recover some of its fixed costs through a standing charge or similar system (e.g. electricity, eircom, gas).
Billing
Customers are billed on a metered charge based on meter readings. Meters will be read on a quarterly basis. However where consumption levels are high there may be provision to read meters on a monthly basis.