Thinking Out Loud: City Should Rescind Water Bill Increases

The Baltimore Sun reported on Saturday that an audit of city water bills showed that "92 percent of water customers reviewed were overbilled".  That is a horrendous figure.

As reported in the last May, the city approved a 9% increase in water bills with more increases to follow. 

The City said it will be refunding some $4.2 million to customers overbilled.  But that doesn't address what they will do about preventing overbilling in the future.  In fact, the City has no real answer except to say that a new system for billing will be in place years down the road.  That's not good enough.

It is time Baltimore City take responsibility for how it treats residents of Baltimore City and other customers receiving water from our supply.  The City should rescind the last 9% increase and not raise rates any more until they have a more accurate way of billing customers. 

If the Mayor wants Baltimore City to be more attractive as a place to live, she should start with promoting honest government in the form of honest water bills.