Some New York City homeowners are drowning.
They claim their water bills are being inflated by newly installed automatic water meters.
Sahodra Samaroo lives alone, does her laundry once a week, drinks bottled water, uses her dishwasher only for storage, has no garage – only cement – and is afraid to put plants in her flower pots. That’s because after the city installed a new automated water meter, her bill shot up from roughly $62 a quarter to $1,400, reported CBS 2′s Marcia Kramer.
“Am I paying a mortgage here? Because that’s what it sounds like me: I’m paying a mortgage. $1,400 to pay for water, come on,” Samaroo said. “I got scared.”
She’s not alone. Gas station owner Carmie Elmore, Jr. also got a jaw-dropping increase from his normal $700 bill after the new meter was installed, Kramer reported.
“It eventually went up… to reach $36,000,” Elmore said.
Public Advocate Bill de Blasio says his office has received hundreds of complaints. De Blasio says the new technology has glitches and needs to be fixed.
“I gotta tell you, it makes me very angry to think about a hard-working homeowner, who’s doing everything right, playing by the rules, and the city shows up with a huge additional bill,” de Blasio said.
If you have complaints about your water bill, you can call the public advocate’s hotline at 212-699-7250.
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