CoA reading meters in our neighborhood this morning. Took a picture of our meter just in case. We should be in the 6,001-11,000 tier this month. Otherwise I'm raising hell.

My whole hood in cedar park is experiencing the same spike. The city is getting pounded with calls. Interesting to see this play out in multiple areas.

Did anybody get anywhere with this? Or just more of the Heisman stiffarm from the city?

About 9 months back rates were raised and I have a feeling since most were being conservative with their usage customers didn't think twice about this. Then the area gets a nice soaking for a few months and they think all is well. Soon after God turns off the water works and customers begin watering their lawns again (including myself). Sure enough July-August bill is sky high. I cut back watering 66% and I'm back at tier 1 rates and like magic my bill is more reasonable.

I'm assuming this is what happened with most people however I bet some folks have legitimate gripes.

Yeah, that's not at all what happened with us. I cut back my usage and the bill quadrupled.

Shocking:

http://www.statesman.com/news/news/local/audits-find-austin-water-billing-system-isnt-to-bl/np8Ss/

We should probably just be thankful the Michigan DEQ and City of Flint aren't handling our water.

I find them pushing their 99% accuracy a little annoying. They are just sugar coating the fact that they messed up on thousands of people's bills. At least some county members are dumb enough to fall for the number game.

From http://kxan.com/2016/01/20/audit-on-high-water-bills-expected-to-be-released/

"When I looked at the report, and you see the number of discrepancies is only 1.3 percent, that doesn't sound like a lot. But you have to know what to compare it to. And what I realized that I should be comparing it to is the standard that's outlined in our contract, which stipulates that we shouldn't have more than 1 inaccurate read per 1,000 meter reads. And we were having a much higher rate than that," Troxclair said. "If you look at the total meters city wide, we're talking about thousands and thousands, you know, 6-7,000 meters that are possibly being read incorrectly, which is a lot of homeowners, and a lot of people, and a lot of real money to them."

quote:

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I find them pushing their 99% accuracy a little annoying. They are just sugar coating the fact that they messed up on thousands of people's bills. At least some county members are dumb enough to fall for the number game.

From http://kxan.com/2016/01/20/audit-on-high-water-bills-expected-to-be-released/

"When I looked at the report, and you see the number of discrepancies is only 1.3 percent, that doesn't sound like a lot. But you have to know what to compare it to. And what I realized that I should be comparing it to is the standard that's outlined in our contract, which stipulates that we shouldn't have more than 1 inaccurate read per 1,000 meter reads. And we were having a much higher rate than that," Troxclair said. "If you look at the total meters city wide, we're talking about thousands and thousands, you know, 6-7,000 meters that are possibly being read incorrectly, which is a lot of homeowners, and a lot of people, and a lot of real money to them."

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Exactly. Someone needs to keep pushing.

We're subsidizing their budget problems and affordable housing projects.

Just a heads up, it's happening again. My bill went from $40 in March to $223 in April. Neighbors have said the same thing regarding their bills. I haven't turned on the sprinklers yet this year, and the rain has kept the pool full.

I called City of Austin this morning, and it said the wait time would be 18 minutes. Looks like I'm not the only one trying to get an explanation. The thing is, nothing will happen and this is a waste of time anyway. I doubt I'll even call back.

quote:

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Just a heads up, it's happening again. My bill went from $40 in March to $223 in April. Neighbors have said the same thing regarding their bills. I haven't turned on the sprinklers yet this year, and the rain has kept the pool full.

I called City of Austin this morning, and it said the wait time would be 18 minutes. Looks like I'm not the only one trying to get an explanation. The thing is, nothing will happen and this is a waste of time anyway. I doubt I'll even call back.

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Where you at?

Guess I'll be checking the meter this morning and video tape the meter guy when he stops by.

Southwest along 290 toward Dripping Springs

quote:

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Just a heads up, it's happening again. My bill went from $40 in March to $223 in April. Neighbors have said the same thing regarding their bills. I haven't turned on the sprinklers yet this year, and the rain has kept the pool full.

I called City of Austin this morning, and it said the wait time would be 18 minutes. Looks like I'm not the only one trying to get an explanation. The thing is, nothing will happen and this is a waste of time anyway. I doubt I'll even call back.

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I don't recall the exact details, but I remember hearing that there is a new process to appeal charges if you feel that there is an anomaly to help get it reduced. They compare to previous months and to the prior year, etc, and will reduce it somewhat (sorry, don't recall the details). I think Troxclair helped get it through, if you google her name and austin water appeals you can find it online someplace. Or ask about if you ever get off of hold with the city

And it's happening AGAIN in our neighborhood.

My bill was $82 last month. This month, we turned off the sprinklers for three weeks and never added water to the pool (the result of Harvey rain and slightly cooler temps). All total, we watered ONE day during this billing cycle. Now our bill is $821. There are only two of us. It says we're using 1,837 gallons per day. There's no ****ing way.

It's happening to our entire subdivision, according to the neighborhood facebook page. Over 85 complaints on that thread so far. I called COA this morning and they're sending someone out to take a look. Same story all over again. Nothing will happen, and I'll have to pay it.

Anyone else seeing a rise? If so, where are you located?

Gramercy Riffs said:

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And it's happening AGAIN in our neighborhood.

My bill was $82 last month. This month, we turned off the sprinklers for three weeks and never added water to the pool (the result of Harvey rain and slightly cooler temps). All total, we watered ONE day during this billing cycle. Now our bill is $821. There are only two of us. It says we're using 1,837 gallons per day. There's no ****ing way.

It's happening to our entire subdivision, according to the neighborhood facebook page. Over 85 complaints on that thread so far. I called COA this morning and they're sending someone out to take a look. Same story all over again. Nothing will happen, and I'll have to pay it.

Anyone else seeing a rise? If so, where are you located?

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You sure you don't have a leak somewhere?

complaints have gone up again on the HOA facebook page. Guess it's time to document the meter again.

They're coming out to check on that, but we tested it last time and there were no leaks.

85 homes in our neighborhood, all with 3x spikes in the same billing cycle. The odds of this being 85 leaks that all popped up at the same time are pretty slim.

Put it another way, it's the highest bill I've ever had by more than 20,000 gallons. It's 24,000 gallons more than my bill from three months ago when I refilled a 13,000 gallon pool and watered every week.

This is the second time in the past two years where my highest bills came in months when we made it a point to not water and not fill the pool. The timing of the spikes make it that much more unbelievable. This is the exact situation that led to a resolution for refunds being passed last year. And this time the spike is even higher.

Same here. We are in Avery Ranch. We had a plumber address a small item but couldn't have been responsible for a 3x spike in usage.

Also in Avery Ranch. Just got our bill and it looks normal for aug/sept thankfully. About 9500 gallons. I'm still going to be checking the meter every other day or so.

I wonder if they are not really reading the meters every month and underestimating usage. Then once in a while they "catch up".

We've asked that question every time. They've insisted that our neighborhood gets actual readings every month. And even if our last three months were averaged, our bill would be over twice as high as it should be.

Lost Creek hood is going nuts as well. About 50+ on nextdoor about it so far.

I think it's all a scam and they jack with usage all over the place. There is no rhyme or reason to their claims.

Got our next bill. Back to normal. Talked to them today and the investigation is still in progress. For those keeping track, my last three bills have looked like this:

$82
$821
$83

One of these things is not like the other...

Well this sure explains this thread. Y'all better be getting a refund.

https://www.mystatesman.com/news/local/austin-meter-readers-made-reads-causing-fall-water-bill-spikes/zUx8R4qIc3X918bW3mVygO/

I guess I forgot to update the thread when my bill was finally settled. They refunded us about $650 in credits to our account. I haven't paid a dime in several months now.

They made it right, but I'm a little worried about this coming summer. Part of the protest/refund process was a little detail that you can only file for a refund once per 24-month period. If anything weird happens with our bill in the next two years, I don't know what will happen. Maybe with this new info about the meter readers, they'll waive the 24-month thing if it happens again.

I heard a report that CofA had a meter reading contractor with employees falsifying meter reports, and not going out to check. I think I heard it on KOKE or KXAN. I would be calling the crooks at city hall back again, and ask about your bill.

Looks like someone posted this above. Hope y'all catch the crooks at CofA and hammer em!

Not being able to protest your bill anytime you want, is absolute BS!!!!

(I cannot say I am surprised though. I grew up here, and when it was time for me to buy my home, I told the realtor, Nothing in the City Limits of Austin. They can't manage their way out of a paper bag with a blowtorch.)