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Girard couple surprised by extremely high water bill
By Danny Restivo
GIRARD
When Keith and Tina Brown of Liberty Street received their bi-monthly water bill Saturday, they saw an unusually high number.
“I thought obviously there has to be something wrong,” said Keith Brown. The bill said the Browns owed $543 for two months of usage, a substantial increase from their usual $90. The Browns said they are the only two living in their home, they don’t have a pool, and they haven’t had a major leak.
The surge in price is a result of more staff inspecting water meters, said Jerry Lambert, city services director.
“When we have seasonal workers here, that’s when we get the most out of our actual readings,” said Lambert.
He said roughly a quarter of the readings come from water- department officials reading meters, which are located inside homes. When a resident isn’t home, the water department relies on the homeowner to provide a reading that is either mailed in or called in, said Lambert.
When residents don’t give a two-month report of their meter, the city estimates the cost based on previous usage.
“We know how much we are paying for the water, but we don’t know what the usage is because of so many estimated bills,” said Lambert.
He said an issue arises when department officials read the meter that has been estimated low for an extended period of time. The city then adds the unpaid water amount to the following bill.
Lambert said the estimated bills are the best option under the current system, but he hopes to get remote water readers to replace the estimation system. But Girard’s current financial situation won’t allow the city to pay for them.
“I won’t go to the people and ask them for more money until the lakes are paid off,” said Girard Mayor James Melfi. He said payments for Girard Lakes will end in 2015, but that brings little comfort to the Browns, who said they pay their water bill “religiously.”
“If I used this much water, I would gladly pay the bill, but I don’t,” said Keith Brown. “I would flat out pay for a meter myself than have this happen again.”
His wife said their billing statement doesn’t make any sense.
“How’s it going to be 43 units when I’m usually paying 7-10,” said Tina Brown. Each unit is 1,000 gallons of water. For every unit, Girard charges $8.07, and $4.38 for sewage, with a reduced rate for those who use over 10,000 gallons.
Tina Brown admits the meter may have malfunctioned but said she’s still not paying the bill.
“I’m not paying $543 because I didn’t use that much water.”