$5,000 Water Bill Among Others Prompting Council Petition

A resident who received a $5,000 water bill is an example of an issue Ald. Aram Ayalon (D-3) says is why he is calling for a report from city officials.

City resident Candyce Scott says that always pays her water bill to the city, so that she knows that her balance was paid before she received her recent six-month water charge.

That bill, she says, came in at $5,000.

Scott says that she contacted the city about this, and a city water employee inspected the water meter and fixtures in her home and found no leaks.

The report on that inspection, provided by Scott, says that her toilet is not leaking nor “leaking over overflow.” The report says, “no leak found,” but adds, “fill valve seems now, owner says is old.” The inspector also marked the question, “Water closet: shutting off properly?” as ‘no’.

The report also says that no faucets were, leaking inside or outside.

Scott says that she had no indication that there were leaks anywhere in her home, and wonders how there could have been a leak racking up a $5,000 bill if the inspector could not find a leak. She says she plans to speak about the matter at the upcoming Council meeting

Ald. Ayalon says that he is submitting a City Council petition calling for the city water officials to, “provide information as to how residents are notified of outstanding water bills.”

Council petitions are a process in the New Britain City Council whereby an individual Council member can require city departments to provide information or respond with a report or an investigation.

“We had several incidents in the past year,” Ald. Ayalon says, “where residents, often people of color, were suddenly given water bills of up to $20,000.”

Ayalon says that his petition says that, “Residents have complained that they are unaware of accumulating water bills and have expressed surprise at the lack of notice,” asking the water officials to, “provide information as to how these situations are currently handled and how to better improve them.”

On April 30, 2021, Republican Mayor Erin Stewart signed an ordinance change approved by the Council that will make water and sewer billing quarterly. While the time between water bills during which a large bill could be accumulating would be reduced to three months, Ayalon says that is not enough.

“Often the water department investigates and finds nothing and then forces the consumers to settle but still paying huge amounts,” Ald. Ayalon says. “I believe these bills should be cancelled, period!”

The petition is to be introduced today, at the January 26. 2022 Council meeting.