Austin residents question high water bills

Have you noticed your water bill has doubled or tripled within the last couple of months? The Austin City Council has been slammed with phone calls from residents complaining about high water bills.

Brent Schneider said he suspected that he was being overcharged on his water bill a couple months ago. Schneider said he took a closer look at his bill and said the math is simple the water usage didn’t add nor the cost.

"I noticed that the water bill was different, usually we use around 9,000 gallons a month and this month it said we used almost 50,000 gallons,” said Schneider.

He's one of many residents who live on Aspen Street in North Austin, that have noticed an abnormal spike in their water bill. "They tried to say… well have you used any extra water, do you do a lot of watering or do you have a pool? I said yeah it's a 9,000-gallon pool which I mean if I would have had to drain it five times this last month and refill it then 50,000 gallons would make more sense,” said Schneider.

He said he reached out to Austin Water and informed the utility department of the situation.

"Usually the water bill is around $90 to $100 with waste water but this past month it was $600," said Schneider. Schneider said he’s still waiting on a call back and a resolution. “I think it’s unfair that we still had to pay the wrong amount and then be told to wait,” said Schneider.

City Council Member Ellen Troxclair agrees and said she’s been busy working on a resolution and said the issue isn't going to be washed down the drain. "There are so many sides to this problem that's why we have to make sure we are minimizing errors to begin with and that people have recourse when they feel that they are inappropriately billed," said Troxclair.

She said this isn't her first water fight since she’s taken office and it won't be her last.

"I requested an audit when this happened two years ago and they found that basically there were about 2,500 water meters across the city that were being misread at that time," said Troxclair.

Troxclair said she’s been busy answering phone calls from concerned residents who have reported outrageously high water bills.

"My electric and water bill is a really important part of my family budget. We need to have some type of protection that we can appropriately budget and plan for our family’s future,” said Troxclair.

She hopes a water audit along with a water refund program that she helped set in place will resolve the issue. “Customers with an unexplained spike 3-times that of their previous bill can fill out paperwork and get some of the money back if they're eligible,” said Troxclair.

Qualifications for the adjustments are:    

• Water usage must be greater than or equal to three times their normal usage.
• Must have a least 12 months of water billing history at address.
• Customer must file a form with 90 days of bill reflecting high usage.

Scheinder said although he does appreciate the efforts Council Member Troxclair is making, but said in the meantime he and his neighbors are still having to mop up the mess and front the bill. 

"It shouldn't be my responsibility to have to take time out my day or anyone else's for that matter to go through the long process to see the obvious mistake."

Austin Water suggest customers with high bills should call the Austin Energy call center listed on the bill.  They may get assigned a case number.

Troxclair will be bringing her resolution to Austin City Council on Tuesday Nov. 7.