DECATUR, Ga. — Beleaguered DeKalb County water customers are hoping this could be the beginning of the end — the end of an outrageous chapter in the annals of DeKalb County government that has lasted for years.
For years, tens of thousands of residents have been repeatedly slapped with inflated and inaccurate water bills, threatened with cut-offs if they don’t pay, and finding that their appeals are costly and seemingly endless, and next-to-impossible to resolve.
Tuesday, they heard the county’s plan to bring DeKalb’s water metering and billing up to “state-of-the-art,” in three years.
And who will pay for most of the multi-million-dollar bill?
Not the county -- according to the county.
At Tuesday’s county commission meeting, the yellow-vest-wearing CEO of DeKalb County, Michael Thurmond -- identifying with the county’s watershed management workers — blasted what he described was inefficient and incompetent government that preceded his administration (he took office in January, 2017). He blamed his predecessors for the embarrassingly inaccurate and inflated water bills that thousands of DeKalb County residents have received year in, year out.
It’s not been uncommon for customers to receive bills many times higher than the previous month’s bills for no apparent reason.
One woman, Latroya Sampson, back in 2016, showed 11Alive her bill for one month that totaled more than $19,000.
“Who has a $19,000 water bill except for Six Flags or Disney World or White Water? Not me!”
On Tuesday, Thurmond explained for the county commissioners the plan he calls “The New Day Project,” to fix everything, finally, over the next three years.
“Now we’re gonna make sure that every consumer or customer who’s using water gets an accurate bill,” Thurmond said.
Thurmond’s plan:
Within the next three years, replace and upgrade the county’s water meters and billing system--with 102,000 new electronic meters that will transmit each customer’s water usage automatically and, Thurmond emphasizes, accurately.
Total cost, according to Thurmond: $15.3 million.
The county will pay, he said, $6.9 million toward the costs.
And the meters’ manufacturer -- accepting responsibility for installing faulty meters earlier -- will pay $8.4 million “to end this embarrassing episode in the history of DeKalb County,” Thurmond said.
Skeptical founders and members of Facebook groups, protesting DeKalb watershed management over the past several years, are assessing the new plan.
They are now part of a new, politically-active force that began years ago with the water-billing complaints, but they have evolved into aggressive and critical citizen watchdogs of DeKalb County government.
“As to people who’ve been frustrated or angry or posted on Facebook, I get it,” Thurmond said. “I don’t blame them really. They had every right to be frustrated with government… The good news is, we’re addressing the problem.”
The three-year water-meter-replacement project begins in April. Residents can learn more on the DeKalb County 'New Day Project ' FAQ page.
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