Water bill spike concerns Church Point residents
CHURCH POINT, La. (KLFY) Residents in Church Point claim they are being overcharged in their water bills with some saying their water bill has doubled over the last few months.
News 10's Rodricka Taylor spoke with some of those residents, and the mayor to seek a solution.
Residents say they should not worry about how many seconds it takes to wash their hands because water is expensive.
"It's the price. It's outrageous,” said Tiffany Echeverria.
Daily water usage from taking a shower, washing dishes, or using the restroom has residents worried about using too much water.
"Before, it was running like $75 to $100 something like that, but it just doubled in the past couple of years,” said Echeverria.
"Mine used to be $40 dollars. It jumped to a hundred and something dollars,” said Darlene Carrier.
Residents say they don't know why their water bills are so high.
“They say I have a leak. I said how? How can we all have a leak?” wonders Echeverria.
Mayor Ryan Meche says the bills were higher because there was a one-time change in reading everyone's water meter.
“During the freeze of last month, we could not read them on the exact date that we normally do, and we read them nine days later,” said Mayor Ryan Meche. “So they’re getting nine days more of bills on their water bill, but that means next month they have nine days less.”
However, there are concerns the water meters are not being read correctly.
“Make sure y'all find somebody that can read the meters and stop just writing down anything or guesstimating,” said Carrier.
One resident's water meter is covered with ants. She says she does not know how her water meter is being checked.
"They claim they're checking it, but when you go out there and look at it like how, how is it being checked?” said Echeverria.
Mayor Meche explains the process of reading a water meter.
"You kneel down, which is not the easiest thing. You dig your hand in mud, wipe the screen and look at the number and put it into the machine,” he said.
"This (the water meter) does not lie. This does not lie. We cannot guess six numbers correctly by guess. If we can, we need to go get lottery numbers tonight,” said Mayor Meche.
If you have an issue with your water, call the town hall, and they will address it. 337-684-569