Showdown between customers, DeKalb County Water

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. - It is a showdown between hundreds of angry, dissatisfied customers and DeKalb County's Department of Watershed Management.

A town hall meeting has been scheduled for next week to hear public concerns of recent spikes in water bills.

One of the concerned customers is Isabell Baquet who showed FOX 5 News a recent water bills which were much higher than previous ones.

“$936, $1,091, $757,” said Baquet as she pointed to a series of water bills.

“Every time somebody opens the faucet, I’m like ‘Turn it off, turn it off!’ I actually feel guilty about washing my face at night,” said Baquet.

She’s not alone, last month dozens packed a previous town hall meeting on the suddenly skyrocketing water bills, and some had increases in the hundreds of dollars others thousands of dollars.

The county has since set up a dispute resolution team to individually study each overcharge and placed a moratorium on water disconnects until they get to the root of the problem.

“Anything from meter readers to the meters themselves to maybe there’s an error in data entry. We’re looking across the board,” said Sarah Page, spokeswoman for DeKalb County.

Page said customers still must pay an average amount based on bills prior to problems.

She said the moratorium continues until the end of the year and is expected to be extended by a new administration, including a new CEO and two new board members, after elections.

“We are not kicking the can, that’s for sure, I mean we have instituted the dispute resolution process, the moratorium, we’re working day in and day out,” said Page.

However, Isabell Baquet remains skeptical.

“That sounds fishy. They're just passing it along, passing the time,” said Baquet.

Baquet said she would like the current board to take action.

Commissioner Nancy Jester who sponsored the previous meeting expects a big crowd at the upcoming town hall meeting next Thursday night at 6:30 at the Maloof Auditorium.

“I’m looking forward to seeing them all again,” said Jester.

The District One Commissioner said it will take time to fix all the problems. Jester said she expects to get the job done with a new administration by early next year.

“It is going to take time to get it right and I would imagine that's going to go into the first quarter of next year. I believe that to be the case,” said Jester.

The county set up a dispute resolution hot line. Concerned water customers are asked to call 404-371-3000.