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Source: Tulsa World, Okla.儲存Jan. 05--City officials are weighing the merits of attaching the city's seal to a commercial business that offers residents coverage for potential utility line breaks on their houses.City Councilor Jack Henderson brought the idea before the council last month and said he intends to bring the issue forward again this week.The organization, Utility Service Partners, is one of several national companies that offers the warranty program on utility lines.Utility Service Partners is endorsed by the National League of Cities and first came to Henderson's attention in 2012, he said.Sewer- and water-line breaks that occur under a home are the responsibility of the homeowner to fix and are often not covered under typical home insurance, Henderson said.Utility lines are owned and maintained by the city until they branch off from public property, connecting under homes, Henderson said.A typical repair can cost several thousand dollars, he said."Many people don't have two or three or four thousand dollars laying around in their bank account," Henderson said.The warranty program, already available to Tulsa residents, costs about $100 per year for both water- and sewer-line coverage, according to the company's website.While the service is already available, the business prefers to have cities endorse the program, which encourages more residents to consider it, according to the organization's website.The agreement with the city would allow Utility Service Partners to send out mailers to Tulsa residents that include the city's seal, informing residents about the benefits of the program.Opting into the agreement would also gain the city royalties that could be directed back into the program to drive prices down or elsewhere at the city's discretion.The City Attorney's Office has advised councilors that any mailer should 迷你倉nclude a disclaimer that the city is not endorsing the service, providing the service or partnering with the company to provide it.Councilor G.T. Bynum said the disclaimer would absolve the city legally but that there is a higher standard of ethics that should be considered before attaching the city to a commercial entity."There is a need for people in Tulsa to know that these services exist," Bynum said. "And that their insurance may not cover it and that it is their responsibility. ... What I don't support is the city government getting into the business of endorsing commercial products."Bynum said he has had constituents who have faced expensive repairs without knowing that the utility pipes were their responsibility.Other Oklahoma cities have joined the program, including Stillwater and Lawton.Lawton City Manager Bryan Long said that city's program began about three years ago and has been successful, with few complaints."It has far exceeded my expectations," Long said. "I'm proud that we signed our name to it."Long said he had similar reservations as Tulsa councilors, and he rewrote the letter that went out to residents.Lawton has 4,944 residents enrolled in the program, with the majority opting into the water line warranty, even though it's offered the sewer line warranty longer, he said.A total of 540 claims have been filed during those three years with a quick response to their customers, he said.Long said the royalties paid to the city are put back into the program to reduce the rates for Lawton residents.Henderson said the agreement has been waiting for the mayor's office to approve and may not need the council's approval.Jarrel Wade 918-581-8367jarrel.wade@tulsaworld.comCopyright: ___ (c)2014 Tulsa World (Tulsa, Okla.) Visit Tulsa World (Tulsa, Okla.) at .tulsaworld.com Distributed by MCT Information Servicesself storage