St. Pete homeowners shocked by high water bills following Hurricanes Helene, Milton
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Dozens of people in St. Petersburg said their water bills are outrageously high after Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
"It was quite a bit of a shock, because it came in at about $4,500," said St. Pete resident Miles Hitchcock.
What they're saying:
After the hurricanes, he got hit with the $4,500 water bill, which he said was about 20-fold higher than his usual bill of $250. He said he immediately contacted the city and was told he may have a leak.
He said a plumber came out, but couldn’t find a leak at his home.
"I would assume my house would be flooding, that would be a lot of water," Hitchcock said.
He submitted a leak adjustment to the city, and started going through that process, but he's not alone.
Big picture view:
FOX 13 found dozens of other St. Pete homeowners have complained that their bills went from a few hundred, to a few thousand in the two months following Helene and Milton. All the homeowners said they'd hired plumbers who couldn't find a leak.
"It seems like there's an issue with the system and how they're managing these refunds because, again, I know I can't afford this," Hitchcock said. "I know a lot of people can't afford it. They told me about other bills, you know, $10,000 water bill in one month. It seems like a problem."
Hitchcock said, like other homeowners, his bills just went back to normal.
"I didn't fix any leaks anywhere," he said.
What's next:
The city did not refund his money, but instead, it was credited to his account. A total of $2,400 toward his future water bills, but it still leaves a $3,600 balance for two months.
$2,400 towards future water bills, which still leaves a $3,600 balance for two months.
The other side:
FOX 13 contacted the city about the water bill issues on Tuesday, and a city spokesperson said they would be looking into it.
They responded on Thursday, saying:
- Due to last year’s storms, there were many utility customers who had their monthly bills estimated due to various reasons, such as their water meters were covered by storm debris, or the city was closed on the days their meters would have normally been read, etc. Estimated consumption can sometimes result in a bill that is lower or higher than whatever the bill should be had an accurate read have been obtained. It is our belief that most of the higher-than-expected bills received by some city utility customers after the recent hurricanes were a result of the bill estimation process. When a water meter can’t be read because it’s inaccessible (like being covered by debris), the billing system will create an estimated bill that uses an average of the customer’s previous three months of water consumption. If an estimated bill reflects lower consumption than the customer actually used, then during the next billing cycle for which we are once again able to obtain an accurate reading of the water meter, that next bill may seem artificially inflated.
The city added that "city utility rates were increased as of the start of the city’s fiscal year, beginning October 1, which did occur between hurricanes Helene and Milton. This annual increase in monthly charges, combined with the bill estimation process, likely resulted in an overall monthly utility bill total that was higher than the customer expected based on their bill history."
The City of St. Petersburg said that customers with questions can call the Utility Accounts Customer Service call center at (727)-893-7341, open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
They also added that "the City’s billing and collections staff is working overtime to process all requests to address storm-related estimated bills."
"Hopefully the city can realize that there's an issue and prevent this again from happening to other people because it was a very scary feeling," said Hitchcock.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13's Genevieve Curtis, who interviewed a homeowner about his experience with high water bills.
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