FORT MILL, S.C. (CN2 NEWS) -Some neighbors in one Fort Mill neighborhood are in disbelief after getting their sewer bills for the month of March.
One man we spoke with had a bill for more than $2,000.00 dollars.
The town saying it is aware of the situation and says this is due to a human error – adding the meters were read incorrectly.
“When I opened it up, I said, 2100 dollars”, says Kevin Connolly.
Kevin Connolly has been living in Fort Mill since 2010.
‘He says although he’s had concerns with this sewer bill for years, when he got his most recent bill for more than 2,000 he was in shock.
“I looked at this and for this reading for the base line of the prior reading, they took the reading from my irrigation”, says Connolly.
Connolly isn’t the only one who received a higher than normal bill. Giovanni Berloni, neighbors with Connolly says his bill came in at 2,842.49.
“I was kind of shocked, I had to say when I say 2,805, let’s round it up. That’s when I started digging into the numbers and realized that basically the wrong meter used in the invoice”, says Berloni.
We reached out to the Town of Fort Mill about the concerns. Mayor Guynn Savage says the town is aware of the issue and is working to address it.
“In March we found a human error that had been occurring over time. And until some of our customers brought that error to us, we didn’t have an indication of it”, says Savage.
The town released this statement regarding the error.
“April 20, 2022— The Town of Fort Mill recently discovered some isolated higher than normal utility bills. The Town has taken appropriate action to address this situation.
In the past three years, the Town has improved its utility billing system by replacing our water meters with new technologically advanced meters throughout our water system. These meters were designed to send real-time information to improve the quality of service for our customers and reduce billing errors. Out of our entire water and sewer system, there are only 450 meters that still require a manual read. We have a relationship with an independent water system in the affected area that requires meters to be read manually.
This billing issue was researched, and we found that some accounts in the affected area were read incorrectly at a lower usage amount than what was actually used due to human error. We understand the affect these increased charges can have on a household budget and we are working with each individual account to lessen the burden of these charges. We value our customers and appreciate their patience on this matter.”
“We are working with the water company, we will get all of the records for the meter readings, we will comprise all of that and look at it and we are going to do what we can to help with each of the customers”, says Savage.
Savage adds due to a human error some of the accounts were read incorrectly at a lower usage amount that was actually used.
“We will make sure we have verification that has been used from the sewer side, marry it up from the reports from the water sides, so we will be able to verify it and have records and work with the customers. This is very painful situation for the me and the town staff but with all things mechanical, electronic, and human errors do occur, but we are going to do everything we can to make it right”, says Savage.
Savages adds they do not know exactly how long the meters were being read incorrectly, but some people could have a lower bill and they will work with each resident effected when it comes to paying those bills.
