WATER BILL DISPUTE ENTERS NEW PHASE

BrocktonPost
BROCKTON—Interviews of residents with disputed water bills by the city’s independent auditing firm are set to begin next week—a round of interviews that began with city councilors earlier this month.
Interviews with residents are expected to begin Monday, Feb. 28 and will continue Monday, March 7, several officials and residents said.
Councilor interviews began Feb. 8 and members met with The Abrahams Group in shifts over the next couple of weeks.
Each of the city’s ward councilors is expected to pick one resident to meet with the review team. Councilor-at-Large Thomas Brophy, the only councilor at large to choose a resident, has picked Robert Ford, a resident who has been vocal and public about his fight with the water department over his bill that was reduced to $12,000—a figure Ford believes is still erroneous.
Among those who are expected to meet with auditors are Ayanna Yancey Cato—the woman who received a $100,000 bill—and Marianne Silva, who has paid her bill, but disputes the numbers involved.
Not all city councilors have made public their picks-yet.
Ward 1 Councilor Timothy Cruise said he has asked a particular lady, but has not heard back if she will be able to attend.
Ward 3 Councilor Dennis Eaniri said in a telephone message and Council President Paul Studenski said in a telephone interview they have made their picks, but are also uncertain if the residents will accept or will be able to make the scheduled interviews.
Dennis DeNapoli could not be reached for comment, but sources have said he has made his pick, but it is uncertain if the resident has accepted.
Kathy Jewett, who was chosen by Ward 7 Councilor Chris MacMillan, is president of the Fieldside Gardens Condominiums Association,which has had ongoing problems with meter readings and problem bills.
Jewett and others in the condo complex have tracked their water bills for over two years and since the latest snafu have had maintenance personnel monitor and record the meters on a quarterly basis—a step Jewett said should not be necessary, but is considering the problems.
Jewett said during the summer when the water bill issue erupted, the condominium complex was hit with a $55,000 bill that was reduced, but the change left numerous questions about the process and formula used to decrease the bill.
She said condo owners are still getting far-fetched bills and are still working with the water department to fix the problems. Steps have been taken to find leaks and none have been found, she said.
“No one is getting an actual read,” Jewett said. “The actuals are actually based on estimates,” she said.
One of the reasons she, Ford and others want to bring their individual problems to the review team is to ensure the auditors understand what the problems are and that the review includes all of the issues associated with metering and billing problems—not just the ones city officials might have mentioned.
“We want to make sure the system is fixed. We want to make sure bills that say they are actual reads are just that, and not based on estimated water use,” Jewett said.
Residents also want to ensure a process is in place that outlines the formula and criteria water officials used to reduce bills that were seemingly high.
“There’s no paperwork. No one knows how they came up with these numbers,” Jewett said. For full article please see The BrocktonPost.com