Sprinkler system fee sparks battle in Bargersville

Three years ago, a Center Grove area man disconnected his in-ground sprinkler system in silent protest of a $10 fee being charged on his water bill just because he had it.

But now, John Jefferson is tired of dragging hoses around to water his yard. He has gone to a town council meeting to ask Bargersville officials to drop the fee that he says is a unjustifiable tax by the town.

The town created the fee in 1995 to discourage people from installing and using sprinkler systems because Bargersville Water Utility couldn't supply enough water during droughts or high-use periods in summer, Bargersville Town Manager Kevin McGinnis said.

The town's water utility serves about 13,000 households and businesses in much of the Center Grove area, reaching as far north as Smith Valley Road. About 2,000 customers pay the fee, generating $240,000 annually, Bargersville utilities superintendent Kevin Killinger told the Daily Journal.

But now that the town has added a new water treatment plant to relieve those supply problems, the fee that Jefferson said never made sense makes even less sense now, he said.

Bargersville plans to review all of its water rates and fees, including the sprinkler fee, in the spring after the new plant has operated for about a year, Town Council President Rowana Umbarger said.

That means residents in Bargersville and White River Township will continue paying the fee, even during the winter months when no one is using a sprinkler. Homeowners may not even know they're paying the monthly fee, since water bills from Bargersville don't itemize all of the taxes and fees, Jefferson said.

The water utility serves a general area bounded by State Road 37 to the west, Honey Creek Road to the east, the town limit to the south and Smith Valley Road to the north.

Jefferson paid about $5,000 to have the sprinkler system installed when he built his house in Brentridge Estates near Center Grove High School in 1998. But three years ago, when he noticed the $10 monthly charge on his bill, which used to be itemized, he contacted the town about it.

The utilities manager at the time told him the fee was to discourage homeowners from having and using in-ground sprinklers, because the water utility often had problems keeping up with demand during dry periods, Jefferson said.

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Sprinkler system fee sparks battle in Bargersville