DeKalb County working on water bill solution
DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. - After months of complaints from residents over skyrocketing water bills from the hundreds to the thousands of dollars, DeKalb County officials said starting Tuesday, 8,000 households will get a notice that their bills have been resolved.
County officials said their work to resolve the issue is far from over: 29,000 households still have disputed, unresolved or "held" water bills. That statistic includes those households that contested their bill, or who have received no bill for months.
WATCH: Citizens voice their concerns
The county said 37,000 households should get a notice within 4 weeks about the status of their problem bill.
"We make no excuses for what has occurred. It's unacceptable," said DeKalb CEO Michael Thurmond to a crowd of people at a town hall Tuesday at DeKalb County headquarters.
After hearing lots of complaints from water customers, DeKalb County's new CEO Michael Thurmond said it was clear the water department, specifically the billing and meter reading system, needed an overhaul. County commissioners recently approved $1.5 million to examine the problems and fund the solutions.
County officials have also been working to hire more customer service representatives and meter readers to address the thousands of unresolved bills. Officials have listed more than 20 reasons for the 37,000 problem bills, from incorrectly installed water meters, inaccurately-read meters, or a fault with the meter design.
At the town hall, residents were able to meet with DeKalb County Watershed workers to find out the status of their bill, and whether it is in dispute.
"The highest bill was last August. That was almost $5,000," said resident Joe Arrington, who was told some good news by county workers, Tuesday. "The account had been closed or cleared. I love the word 'cleared'; that's what I'm waiting for verification for," he said.
The county has set no timeline for when the rest of the 29,000 bills will be resolved.
DeKalb County officials said those who have not received a bill for months, most likely have had their bill "held" for inconsistencies, and the bill has automatically been placed in the resolution process. Anyone can find out the status of their bill, despite having received no bill, by calling 311 or the DeKalb County Watershed department.