With hours left in office, DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis released a letter to residents Wednesday laying out measures to address widespread water billing issues.
The county is sending out some 50,000 statements that had been withheld because of questions about accuracy, he said. The billed amount will be an estimate based on the average of the customers’ last 12 months of usage, with the lowest and highest month not considered.
Anyone who thinks they actually used less than the average can contact the county.
"Customers who have been affected will be treated fairly," wrote Ellis, who is fulfilling his term after the Georgia Supreme Court threw out his attempted extortion conviction in November. "The county has implemented a verification process to ensure future accuracy."
The bills, which are associated with about 34,000 customers, start heading out on Dec. 30, the day before Ellis’ term expires. He’s turning the CEO’s seat over to Mike Thurmond, who won the November election.
DeKalb's water billing problems have infuriated residents, with many receiving impossibly-high statements. One woman got a bill for more than $850, complained and then received a "corrected" invoice for $19,500.
People lined up for town hall meetings and lodged complaints. By September, county staff couldn’t keep up with the amount of contested statements and began withholding ones with questions, Ellis said.
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To address the problems, Ellis said field technicians will verify the accuracy of every water meter, with first priority placed on those connected to an account with questionable billing.
“All 184,000 accounts will be visited and verified within a year,” he wrote.
Ellis also expects the board of commissioners to make moves in January on implementing a water and sewer billing advisory committee. The resident committee will receive frequent updates on the progress of the field technicians and give them feedback.
The inaccuracies stemmed DeKalb's transition from outdated meters to newer technology, Ellis said. The trouble was, the county's software in many cases misread the newer meters.
The CEO said he began working on the crisis "immediately" when he returned to office two weeks ago, after a three-and-a-half year suspension, two criminal trials and eight months in prison.
He said it was a matter of making sure DeKalb residents get the best “customer service” from the county.
“We apologize for any inconvenience and hardship this issue has caused,” he wrote, “and we appreciate your patience, understanding, ideas and support as we work through this challenging issue.”
To read the full letter visit here.
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