By Miki Mullor

Hideout Town council has rolled back the increase in water meter connection fees it enacted in March 2022. The Hideout Comment‘s June 19 report exposed the possibly illegal aspect of that increase.

The report also exposed misinformation by the Town Engineer Timm Dixon to justify the 2022 fee increase. Dixon misreported the comparable water meter fees of Heber City and inflated the costs of meters the Town purchased, by a factor 5 – which the Town now calls “erroneous calculation.”

During the June 30 council meeting, the Town’s administrator Jan McCosh told the council the Town will be issuing refunds to those residents impacted by the 2022 fee increase. McCosh also announced a new policy that requires a review of future fee changes by the finance committee and an accountant.

The new rates reflect a 66% decrease from 2022, but is still about 50% higher than the original $985 previously charged for a 1 1/2″ meter. The Town did not provide data nor analysis to support the new fees.