Ridgewood Water Undercharged Customers In 2010 And 2011: Analyst

RIDGEWOOD, NJ — Ridgewood Water undercharged customers in 2010 and 2011 and had a revenue shortfall of more than $400,000 in those years and in 2012.

Those are some of the findings included in a 247-page court-ordered report stemming from a class-action lawsuit filed by the three municipalities the utility serves: Glen Rock, Wyckoff and Midland Park.

Ridgewood officials issued a press release Monday outlining the overcharges, a conclusion that runs counter to a Superior Court judge's July ruling that the utility overcharged customers by 31 percent from 2010 to 2012.

The report was prepared by Howard Woods, who has a master's degree in civil engineering from Villanova University, officials said. He has 40 years of experience covering public water and wastewater operations and management.

The report concludes that the rate charged by the village's water utility undercharged ratepayers for 2010 and 2011, officials said in a statement.

"Slightly more revenue than was needed was received in 2012, but even that produced an overall shortfall in revenue of more than $400,000 over the three years initially challenged," officials said. "Mr. Woods' report confirms yet again what the village has said throughout seven years now of needless litigation: The rate charged the utility ratepayers was fair and equitable."

Woods has been asked to update the report for 2013 through 2017, after which the village will adjust the rates necessary. That updated report is expected by the end of the year.

"I am hopeful that this report and the subsequent adjustment of rates, if needed, will finally end this wasteful, expensive and wholly unnecessary litigation," Mayor Susan Knudsen said in the statement.

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