CLAYPOOL – Town Council had few answers on a billing error that saw one family’s water bill jump $120 last month.
Seth and Ashley Carson told council during the Monday meeting that their bills since moving to town in January had only been estimates, charging about $80 for 2,000 gallons of water. Their first bill reflecting actual usage last month was for $200.
Seth Carson told council he wasn’t asking for a reduction in price, which was fine with member Larry Neher, who said he couldn’t see any way to justify reducing an accurate bill. Carson said he just wanted to understand why his water meter wasn’t working for five months, and wanted to make sure it didn’t happen to anyone else in town.
Council members were unsure whether the meter was working or not during that time and could not explain why the Carsons were billed on estimate for so long. It was “just one of those things,” Clerk-Treasurer Arlene Leiter said.
But they assured them that they would be billed for actual usage from now on.
Council member David Dills expressed sympathy for the unexpected jump in price.
“There’s no doubt they owe the bill, but it’s unfair to these people the way it came about,” he said. “They do not owe it – I mean they owe it, but the way it came about, how it was dumped on them, they’re innocent.”
There followed some debate on whether everyone in town automatically got a “sprinkler credit” in summer, a small discount based on water usage above the previous three-month average. Carson wanted to ensure he got the penny-saving credit too.
“Like everybody else, I want to save every dime I can,” he said.
