A Villager is refusing to pay her water bill after an unexplained spike in usage.
Carol Slezak, who lives in the Virginia Vine Villas in the Village of Virginia Trace, spoke out Monday afternoon before the North Sumter County Utility Dependent District board about her mysterious bill for 25,860 gallons of water during the month of April.
The Minnesota native, who has lived in the villa since 2009, said her outside water was turned off during April.
When she received the unusually high bill, she immediately called the Utilities Department. Jacobs, the contractor that reads the meters, sent out a representative who checked the equipment and said everything was fine. But no one answered her question.
“I want to know where that water went. The neighbors never saw anything. The dog goes out there. The dog never came back wet,” Slezak said.
She said the 25,860 gallons used over 28 days would equate to the use of 924 gallons per day or 38.5 gallons an hour. The next month, her water usage mysterious returned to a normal level.
She was hit with a big bill and then a late fee when she didn’t immediately pay the bill.
“I have no intention of paying it until I get an answer,” Slezak said.
Peter Siegel of the Village of Dunedin had a similar story. He got a bill indicating he had used 15,550 gallons of water in a month, when he usually uses about 3,500 gallons per month.
“I don’t have a pool, I don’t have a hot tub, I don’t run a car wash,” he said. “I just don’t know. I think the meter had a little party on its own.”
They are the latest residents to report to the NSCUDD board their unexplained spikes in water usage.
In response to residents’ recent complaints, the NSCUDD board on Monday approved an Unexplained High-Water Use Adjustment Policy. You can read the policy at his link: Unexplained High-Water Use Adjustment Policy The only change made by the board was the limit on the number of times residents can take advantage of the credit.
