GROVELAND, Fla. — Dozens of Groveland residents are taking to social media after recently seeing a spike in their water bills.
Several residents told Channel 9 they haven’t changed the amount of water they are using. Some have even called out a plumber to look for leaks, but found there were none. They said the only difference month-to-month seemed to be a new meter the city installed at their home.
Jason Bailey’s utility bill more than doubled in the month of December, going from the roughly $120 a month to $239 at his home with a family of four.
So he went to check his new meter. The city of Groveland has gradually been changing out meters after it said the old ones weren’t reading properly.
“I noticed that my neighbor’s meter was slightly higher, if not a little higher than mine. And his bill came in at $94, $95,” Bailey said. “That’s what caught my attention that there was an issue.”
Bailey posted on the Facebook group Groveland FL Word of Mouth, and soon several other people started chiming in.
“I was a little shocked, to say the least. It was about six times more than my average bill,” said Jorden Burton.
Burton’s utility bill was $666 for the month of December. His water bill alone was $281.
The city stated on his bill that his water usage doubled from about 25,000 gallons the month before — to more than 45,000 gallons for the family of four’s home. He said the only thing that changed was that he began watering his lawn in November.
“However, I don’t think it necessarily amounts to six times the bill,” Burton said.
WFTV reached out to the city of Groveland Tuesday afternoon to let officials know Channel 9 was looking into the reported issue. At 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, reporter Ashlyn Webb sent the city a resident’s bill. The city of Groveland responded to say the meter has been broken for nearly two years.
Channel 9 also sent officials other residents’ bills throughout the day. The city said it was looking into each individual case that Eyewitness News notified them about to determine if there was an issue.
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