CHESAPEAKE, Va. — A Chesapeake neighborhood experienced higher-than-normal water bills. According to the city of Chesapeake, there are a few reasons for it but no immediate fix.
Mom Jennifer Debski says she was shocked to see her recent water bill. Usually, she's billed every two months, but lately, she's been billed for 80 days, doubling the cost per bill.
"There are some people are looking at $700 water bills right at Christmas time," says Debski.
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What makes this financial burden worse for Debski is that her husband is currently deployed
"I'm trying to budget for Christmas gifts and birthday gifts all while my husband is gone," said Debski. "This city doesn't make it easy for people to comfortably anymore."
The city of Chesapeake blames several issues including a new billing software, a rate structure change of water consumption, recent holidays keeping workers from looking at the meters and a lack of workers overall.
City Utility Director David Jurgens, says they're aware of the issue and working on it, but a fix may not come until after the new year.
"We will get back to our standard 58 to 65-day schedule, but I do need to throw out the caution of reality," Jurgens said. "We do have the Christmas weekend, then we will have the New Year's weekend as well. Because we do have some back-to-back holidays, that will make it a little bit more of a challenge and take us longer to catch up, but we will catch up."
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Jurgens says the city is in the process of hiring more meter readers and recently conducted interviews. If you're having trouble paying your bill the city says they're willing to set up payment plans or waive penalties.
If you have questions, the Public Utilities Customer Contact is 757-382-6352.
Customers can also view the rate schedule and other info by clicking the link here.
