Water bills ‘breaking backs’ of Miamisburg customers

Customers say city bills showing questionably steep jumps in water use amid annual rate hikes are "breaking the backs" of Miamisburg residents, and local officials say their skepticism is understandable.

Susan Greb, while living by herself and seeking to conserve water, said she was billed for using 56,250 gallons of water from September to December — $1,276.92 for a quarter in which Miamisburg's projected average was less than $300.

“A rate increase is one matter. But a severely drastic change in units is quite another,” Greb told city officials last week.

“We don’t have a problem with the rate increase. We understand,” she said. “…But when you go from nine units to 75 units, that’s an issue.”

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Greb said she spent $4,000 in making sure her plumbing was free of leaks, and she represented a group of nearly 20 people who have been billed for “doubled, tripled, exaggerated unit charges.”

Skyrocketing city utility bills are forcing some Miamisburg residents to make difficult choices, said Rhonda Vinson.

“When you’re struggling to keep your water on…what do you do?” she asked. “What do you not do? Do you not pay your gas, pay your electric…this is really breaking the backs of a lot of people.

“I want assurances that the city will work with people like myself,” Vinson told council Tuesday night.

The city is in the midst of a series of five, annual front-loaded rate hikes on its estimated 7,800 customers to pay for a $69 million water and sewer upgrade largely mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Miamisburg’s water and sewer system was a “neglected” for decades while the city provided its customers with “artificially low” rates, said City Councilwoman Sarah Clark, who held a forum On water bill complaints that drew more than 70 people.

Faced with paying for EPA-required fixes in recent years or giving up its autonomy on water and sewer service, council unanimously passed the $69 million plan - which includes a soft water system - and approved the rate hikes in the summer of 2014 after the issue was "thoroughly discussed," Miamisburg Mayor Dick Church Jr. said.

Given the EPA orders, rate increases were expected, said City Councilman Tom Nicholas.

“But,” he added, “if last December you used 30 units and this year you’ve got 80 units, then – yeah – that needs to be looked at.”

City officials are encouraging customers who have issues with their bills to contact city staff. Clark indicated on Facebook recently that she had seen one bill that had high use as a result of incorrect meter reading. The city’s water department adjusted the bill, Clark said.

Customers’ questions about the bills have led to changes in more than 120 payments, Gary Giles, the city’s public information officer, has said.

Miamisburg City Manager Keith Johnson said a common factor in higher bills are leaky pipes, but he said city staff will address any questions.

“It’s not our intent to charge for units not being used,” he said. “So if there is some discrepancies, we want to figure out why that’s the case.

“If the answer is replacing the meter – just a faulty meter - we’ll be happy to take a look at that,” he said.

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