City Council candidate campaigns for low water fees but never paid for water for 6 years

9 Investigates found out a St. Cloud City Council candidate didn’t pay for the water he was using at home for six years.

He’s now campaigning on complaints the same city charges too much for water.

The house belongs to City Council candidate Chuck Cooper, who has been on the council in the past.

The city said it discovered Cooper has not paid for water since 2009.

Copies of old monthly ledgers from the city’s water department show the same thing every month beginning in 2009: Cooper’s water usage zeroed out.

According to city records, Cooper never said a word about his water bill showing he didn’t owe any money.

Six years later, the water department figured it out and internal emails obtained by 9 Investigates show Cooper began receiving a larger bill because that whole time, his water meter had stopped clocking water.

City policy ended up allowing the city to collect one year of back-billing, which Cooper paid.

Despite that, Cooper’s campaign mailers have been targeting citizens’ anger over water fees that are too high.

Amanda Taormino is running against Cooper for the same council seat.

"That is definitely one thing that I've been doing is trying to get the rates down. That's what I've been doing for the last year and a half,” she said.

Her supporters accuse Cooper of hopping on the water fee bandwagon for political convenience.

She did not comment specifically on Cooper’s situation where he didn’t pay for water.

Channel 9’s Field Sutton asked Cooper why he never noticed that he was billed for zero gallons of water for six years.

He didn’t answer, but said in an email that he blames the city for sending him inaccurate bills.

He would not comment further.

Cox Media Group