KPRC 2 Investigates is learning more about a plan to help people who have water bill issues.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire is still working on the plan, but he mentioned a few details this week.
You may know our year+-long ‘DRAINED’ Investigation highlights issues people have with leaks, outrageous bills, and the confusing process to get help.
Amy Davis first reported in January that Mayor Whitmire working on a new plan. Whitmire says he needs more time to work out the details with his team.
“It’s so involved, we want to do it right,” said Whitmire on Wednesday. “Instead of the time to try and meet a deadline, we want to be very transparent about it. Make sure we don’t start down a path we have to adjust. It’s too important.”
“We are really going to try and make it user-friendly,” said Whitmire.
Whitmire mentioned helping people who have super high water bill balances.
“The outrageous bills will be proactively dismissed. There’s a lot to discuss,” he said.
Amy first reported that we know the new water bill relief plan involves making it much easier and faster for customers to clear high bills that are out of the norm and above their average usage. The plan also helps people figure out what is causing those high meter reads in the first place.
That process will take a little more time but the relief for customers will mean people are not stuck with these exorbitant bills while the city figures out the bigger issues.
Ordinance changes in December to help water bill issues
You may remember in December, then-Mayor Sylvester Turner released changes to several ordinances related to water bills. Some of those changes include allowing customers to apply for a maximum of two leak adjustments per year. Customers get 50% credit on excess water usage on both water and wastewater charges. You can read the full details of the previous ordinance changes here.
Houston Public Works says because of those ordinance changes, the water department has applied nearly $2 million in credits to water bills in dispute. HPW public information officer Erin Jones emailed the following statement to KPRC 2 News reporter Amy Davis:
“As of January 10, 2024, Customer Account Services (CAS) processed adjustments for 1,621 accounts for high bill relief, which amounts to $1.87 million in credits on accounts that applied for high water bill relief before Dec. 13, 2023, As a point of clarification, these adjustments are not corrections but the direct result of these much-needed ordinance changes. CAS has received 2,300 new requests for high water bill relief since the ordinance changes were approved.”
We will not stop the ‘DRAINED’ Investigation
Amy Davis and the team will keep bringing you any new developments on Houston water bills including the new plan Mayor Whitmire is expected to release soon.
If you have a water bill issue, there’s a good chance we’ve covered that topic. Check out all of our ‘DRAINED’ Investigations to find the help you need.