OCOEE, Fla. — An Ocoee homeowner wants answers after she said her water bills skyrocketed by thousands of dollars when city utility crews did work on a street near her meter.
Amy Lotanosky-Boukhrissi, who lives in a home with fewer than 1,400 square feet, said she’s had water bills as low as $11 a month.
Recently, her bills jumped up quickly, one month for $1,800 and the next for $1,400.
With taxes and fees, she now owes more than $3,400.
That amounts to more than 400,000 gallons of water over two months; a little less than it would take to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool.
Lotanosky-Boukhrissi said it’s happened twice before in the past decade. Each time, she said it happened after utility crews did work near the meter outside her home.
In 2012, the city lowered a bill for hundreds of dollars to $45.
Lotanosky-Boukhrissi said she doesn’t have a leak and city officials have been to the home.
The utilities director said he believes Lotanosky-Boukhrissi used that much water intentionally.
He told Channel 9’s Jeff Deal he’ll be getting documents together to prove it.
But Lotanosky-Boukhrissi said nothing has changed in her water habits and is hoping the city won’t hold her responsible for the $3,400 bill.
“I’m doing nothing different than I do year-round. Of course, they always say something like that,” she said.
City officials said they will be gathering up more information on the case and will provide it to Channel 9 next week.
WFTV
