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Unit Billing Method Upheld
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
journal ‐ american water works association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.466
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1551-8833
pISSN - 0003-150X
DOI - 10.1002/j.1551-8833.1993.tb06035.x
Subject(s) - unit (ring theory) , constitutionality , property (philosophy) , business , residential property , law , political science , geography , supreme court , mathematics , mathematics education , philosophy , epistemology , regional science
Before January 1, 1990, the village of Lewisburg, Ohio, billed for water on a per‐unit basis. This meant that a building occupied by the owner and one tenant constituted two billable units. A building occupied by three tenants constituted a three‐unit building, and so on. Typically, an individual who owned and lived in a residential property but also conducted business there was billed as one unit. The village relied on property owners to inform it of the number of tenants. Each unit was charged a base rate for water and an additional charge for excess use. Property owners with various commercial and residential tenants challenged the constitutionality of the unit system. The trial court ruled against them.