Why some Hollywood residents face exorbitant water bills
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Some Hollywood residents have received water bills in the hundreds or even thousands of dollars for several months, due to the city's use of estimated water readings.
Why it matters: Residents say they had been paying their bills as usual each month, not realizing the amounts did not reflect their actual water use. Once the city tallied the use later, some faced huge back charges.
- Aside from a small "E" on their bills, they say they weren't notified that the city's water utility wasn't conducting actual readings.
Between the lines: When the city can't receive data from a meter, its utility system relies on an estimated reading to ensure the bill is issued on time, according to Hollywood's website.
- Communications director Joann Hussey tells Axios that the estimate is based on the average amounts over the prior three months.
- Once the meter is replaced, the customer will start receiving bills with actual readings.
- Meanwhile, the city retrieves data from the old meter to determine whether the estimated bills were too high or too low — and issues either a credit or a back charge.
Case in point: Last December, Yolanda Jean went online to pay her mother's water bill and was shocked by the price tag of $2,500.
- After contacting the city, she learned the city had been estimating the water bill for 15 months, then billed her mother for additional usage during that span.
- "My mother is 75 on a fixed income," she adds. "We cannot afford this."
- Another resident, James Wilson, told CBS that he was billed $1,575 for four years of estimated billing.
The other side: Under city code, Hussey says, the city can bill for water usage up to a five-year period.
By the numbers: More than 4,000 households are on estimated billing.
- Hussey says the city is working to replace malfunctioning equipment to minimize the impact on residents.
What's next: Jean hopes the city will offer her mother an affordable payment plan to avoid her mother's water being shut off.
- As of last week, the city reduced the bill to $1,500.