A few weeks ago a post on Facebook raised the issue of unusually high water bills. The comments made it clear that this was not an isolated problem. I contacted Mary Bailey, the VP of Customer Experience and Strategic Initiatives with SAWS, to ask about the problem. She said that SAWS had been hearing many such complaints. Only one could be chalked up to a misread. And as they have all but phased out estimates, that was also not the culprit. It was her belief that most of the differences from past years could be attributed to two elements. The first is that people may be using more than they realize as this was the first summer in some years without water restrictions in effect. The second was the tiered rate structure that SAWS uses. This means that they charge more at certain thresholds. Say 7 cents per 100 gallons for that first 3000 gallons, then 13 cents for the next 1500 gallons, then 17 cents for the next 1500 gallons. So the cost doesn't increase in a straight line with increased usage.
The Board felt that was an insufficient explanation. They decided it would be better for residents to speak face to face with SAWS representatives about their individual cases. So I invited Ms. Bailey to come to Beacon Hill to answer your questions in person. She will bring colleagues who will speak with residents one-on-one. I can't promise they will give answers that will satisfy everyone, but we hope this opportunity will resolve issues for many of you.
- Daniel Hubbeling