Water Billing Issues Cost Baltimore County, City: Inspectors

BALTIMORE COUNTY, MD — Leaders of Baltimore County and Baltimore City presented findings Monday from a report about their shared water system. The jurisdictions are losing millions of dollars due to problems with equipment and billing, they concluded.

Baltimore City oversees the water system that is used by both Baltimore County and Baltimore City.

Since the coronavirus pandemic began, Baltimore County residents have not received their water bills from the city. Officials say Baltimore County water bills should be received this month.

Earlier in the year, inspectors general from both jurisdictions received a complaint in March about inaccurate water bills affecting Baltimore City and Baltimore County residents and businesses, prompting a review that pinpointed some longstanding issues with the system.

"There are two significant findings concerning the City’s water billing system that need to be addressed," according to the report from Baltimore Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming and Baltimore County Inspector General Kelly Madigan.

• Thousands of digital water meters in the City and the County are not fully functional.
• More than 8,000 open "tickets" regarding Baltimore County water accounts have not been addressed by the city to the satisfaction of the county.

About 5 percent of meters have operational issues causing inaccurate and faulty readings, resulting in "revenue that's lost at a time when nobody can afford it," Cumming said at a news conference Monday about the report.

About 14,000 meters in the city and 8,000 meters in the county have operational issues, according to the findings from the inspectors general.

"This report also highlights the fact that the City and the County have awarded over $133 million in contracts since late 2011 for the purpose of enhancing the water system," the inspectors said in their report. "Despite the contract awards, major deficiencies persist; and consequently, the City and the County are losing millions of dollars."

Madigan and Cumming recommended a more comprehensive and coordinated approach to address these issues.

"A fundamental lack of communication between the City and the County is central to the problems that have been plaguing the water billing system for years," wrote Madigan and Cumming.

Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. said soon after he took office, the jurisdictions convened a water group to look at the "shared water system and its longstanding challenges."

In 2017, Olszewski said Baltimore County was asked by Baltimore City management to create an email notification system alerting people to water issues.

Since then, he said, the system issued 12,000 notifications. Of those, Baltimore City has not addressed 8,600, according to a review of the data, Olszewski said Monday. He added that most open tickets in Baltimore have been so for more than a year.

“Those open tickets translate in a loss of millions of dollars in revenue," Olszewski said, and the problem is one of the "systemic issues" dating back decades.

"A preliminary audit was conducted this past year by the City into water billing related to accounts that were not included in the billing system. The audit recommended a more detailed review of water billing to address some of the areas you have noted," Baltimore Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Daniel Ramos wrote in a letter responding to the report.

"Additionally, a report on the water and wastewater utilities performed by a vendor jointly contracted by the City and County examining issues of communication, staffing, and governance is forthcoming," Ramos said. "I am committed to working with your offices and others in Baltimore County to collaboratively address these issues."

Officials said the Ritz-Carlton, which had not been billed for water, was among the accounts being handled by the legal department.

"There are problems in our water system that must be fixed," Mayor Brandon Scott said at a news conference Monday. He called the report and its findings "historic" and said of the water problems: "This is a top priority. We will fix it."

Watch the Dec. 21 news conference about water billing in Baltimore City and Baltimore County, and read the water billing report.

See Also: Baltimore County Water Bills To Be Mailed By End Of December