Chicago retirees shocked at unexpected $65,000 increase in water bill
CHICAGO (CBS) – A retired teacher and a retired school bus driver dedicated years to the city, but now they feel slapped in the face with a huge Chicago water bill.
The surprise charges are so high it's jeopardizing the sale of the couple's property. CBS 2's Lauren Victory spoke with the couple's daughter, who heard our station has fought this battle many times before.
For Andrea Garner, fixing the mess at her parents' investment property is all part of caring for the people who raised her.
Garner: "Just running around for anything that they need."
Victory: "That's a big load."
Garner: "It is. It is, but it is a big joy."
But something else is draining that joy: bills from Chicago's Department of Finance. The family knew they had unpaid water charges to settle before selling their three-flat in Roseland.
But when they heard their balance, "It was like deer in headlights and a complete freeze of everything like a complete shock," Garner said. "What do we do?"
A statement from June shows what they expected to pay at the closing table: about $11,700.
Instead…
"There was an outstanding bill that I still can't even really say the words out loud," Garner said. "$80,000."
She added, "$80,000 worth of water? How?"
"That had to have been one of the hardest calls that I had to make to a client," said Adeline Lewis, a paralegal helping with Garner's building sale.
"We can't close without a paid bill," Lewis said.
She received a ledger card from the city showing multiple charges on the same day for $5,000, $21,000, $26,000, and more.
Lewis hoped to wash away worries by calling the city's utility billing customer service. She recorded the conversation.
Lewis: "Can you tell me why this bill has gone up $65,000?"
Customer service rep: "She had an estimated reading, let's see, from November 2021 until now."
Lewis: "So you're saying my client has to pay a surprise $65,000 increase because Chicago has been underestimating usage since November of 2021?"
Rep: "Um, that's correct."
But is it?
Under meter reading, two bills say "estimate," but three other bills say "actual," including one with negative water use.
How?
Then the ledger says "metered" all over it.
"Metered," meaning what they were previously charged shouldn't have been tens of thousands of dollars off.
Victory: "Has your office also heard other cases like this?"
Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th): "Yes, actually, we're compiling them."
Villegas is organizing testimony for an Aug. 31 committee meeting where he plans to question Chicago's water billing system.
"Obviously, there is a disconnect between the technology and the water delivery, the billing and the constituents' utilization of service," Villegas said.
Meanwhile, a discovery was made while CBS 2's cameras were rolling. Chicago Department of Water Management crews showed up at the property about two hours after CBS 2 inquired about that astronomical balance.
"You're saying you got an emergency work order to come here today?" Garner asked the crew.
They removed an old water meter, installed a new one, and promised to test the equipment.
The city's water and finance departments won't answer CBS 2's questions about why a metered account gets estimated or why the bill could jump by $60,000.
For now, the family is like many others we've covered in this series: They're getting hosed. For more on CBS 2's award-winning "Getting Hosed" series, click here.
The family may be unable to close that real estate sale on Friday because of this massive water bill.