Getting Hosed: City admits overbilling homeowner for water, but he can't get a refund

CHICAGO (CBS) -- For more than four years, CBS 2 has been reporting on Chicagoans getting hosed by bogus water bills.

The CBS 2 Investigators have saved everyday folks hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The City Council Finance Committee held a hearing in August to begin to address the issues, and CBS 2 wants to keep the focus on to make sure fixes actually happen.

Streaming anchor Brad Edwards spoke with David Steele about how the city bureaucracy gummed him up; and even after he "won" the first round in his dispute over his water bill, the city figured out a way to hose him again.

Steele realized that his single-family home was classified by the city as two dwelling units. As a result, his water bill ballooned to nearly double of what it should be.

The city eventually fixed that, crediting his account by more than $5,000. But Steele could not get a refund of the money he'd paid after being overpaid, just a credit on his bill to reduce future payments.

To get a refund, Steele was told he needs to provide dozens of canceled checks and/or bank statements, dating back years to prove he made the payments the city acknowledged Steele made.

So he remains in limbo, with a credit on his water bill that will take him years to use, still trapped by city bureaucracy.