City of Winder Utility Service Charges, Explained

Opening, moving and closing

A new account connection is $50. Name or address changes are free. Transfer service is free if utilities are already connected at the new address, or $25 if services there are disconnected.

The sheet says a customer's deposit can transfer from one address to another. The customer comes to the Utility Billing Department to request disconnection at the old address and connection at the new one, and service can overlap for up to 15 days. Any remaining balance and service charges move to the new account.

Plan a move so the overlap covers the days you need water at both places, for cleaning or repairs.

Rentals: continuous service

For rental units, continuous service is free, or $25 in one case. During an interim period when a rental is empty, the City will not discontinue water or gas service, will open an account in the landlord's name from the tenant's termination date or on the landlord's request, and treats the landlord as the customer under the applicable rate schedule.

If the tenant was disconnected for non-payment, a $25 connection fee applies.

For landlords, this keeps water on for turnover repairs without a gap. Make sure the plumber knows whose account the work falls under.

Reconnection, delinquency and checks

Reconnection is $25 when it is not because of non-payment. A disconnection for non-payment carries a $50 delinquent charge. A returned check is $30.

A leak that doubles a bill is exactly the situation where a delinquent charge can follow. If you are contesting a bill under the leak policy, do it within 30 days of the due date and keep paying the part you do not dispute.

The policy says no penalty is assessed if a meter-reading adjustment delays payment past the penalty date. See the leak page.

Meter damage and repairs

Meter damage is $135, with more for meters larger than 1 inch, and Smart Point device damage is $185. The Smart Point is the radio unit that sends readings.

Plumbers and landscapers working near the meter box should know this. A shovel through the radio wire or a crushed lid can turn a small job into a bill from the City.

Temporary disconnection due to repair is listed at no charge. If a plumber needs the water off at the meter, ask the City during normal business hours; it will disconnect and reconnect at the meter so you can make repairs.

Temporary service and inspections

Temporary service or inspection service is $25 for connection plus usage, for up to 3 days. That is useful for a home inspection on a vacant house, or for testing plumbing after a repair before the new owner moves in.

Ask the City for the dates and the account to bill. Usage during that window is charged at the normal rates.

If the plumbing shows a leak during an inspection, get it repaired and documented before closing.

Permits are separate

Utility fees and permit fees come from different offices. Inside the city, Planning and Development lists all trade permits, including plumbing, at $225.00, with up to two inspections and the CC.

Barrow County's plumbing permit has a $75.00 base fee plus items. See the Winder and county permit pages.

The Free Quote Request on this page reaches independent plumbers who work in Winder and Barrow County.

Reading a Winder-area bill line by line

Start at the top of the bill and find the name of the utility. City of Winder bills follow the City's Form 520 rate sheet; Barrow County Utilities bills follow the county's FY2026 schedule. Everything else on this site depends on getting that first step right, because the two utilities use different tiers, different base charges and different leak rules.

Next, find the reading dates and the gallons used. Divide the gallons by the number of days in the cycle to get a daily figure, and compare it with the same cycle a year earlier. A household that normally uses a little over a hundred gallons a day and suddenly shows several hundred has either changed its habits or has water going somewhere it should not.

Then look at the charges. The base water and base sewer lines do not move with use. The volume lines do. If the volume lines jumped and the base lines did not, the change is in gallons, not in rates, and the meter test on the high bill page is the next step.

Finally, note the due date. On a City of Winder account, the 30-day window to contest a bill runs from that date, and a missed window cannot be reopened by the policy's own terms.

Keeping records that make every later step easier

Most of the trouble homeowners describe after a plumbing problem is not the repair itself but the paperwork around it: a leak credit request without an invoice, a permit nobody can find at resale, a disputed meter reading with no photo. A simple folder fixes most of it.

Keep the bill that showed the problem and the one before it. Take a dated photo of the meter dial when you first notice something odd and again after the repair. Ask the plumber for an invoice that names the address, the date, where the problem was and exactly what was replaced. If a permit was pulled, keep the permit number and the final inspection result.

Write down every call to the utility or the permit office: the date, the person's name and what they said. Policies change, and staff answers are easier to rely on when you can quote them back.

None of this costs money, and every piece of it helps if you later need a credit, sell the house or have to show an insurer when a problem started.

Sources: City of Winder, GA: Water & Sewer Rates, effective July 1, 2026 - June 30, 2027 (Form 520, PDF); City of Winder, GA: Water Service Policy, Sec. 500.26 Bill Adjustments for Loss of Metered Water (PDF); City of Winder, GA Planning & Development Services: Fee Schedule; Barrow County, GA Planning & Community Development Fees, FY 2025 / FY 2026 (PDF). Checked 2026-10-30.