Saratoga Town Council members unanimously voted to continue using an inaccurate system to bill for water.
The Saratoga Town Council approved this motion at the recommendation of the Water and Sewer Joint Powers Board, and against several objections from Saratoga residents.
At both meetings, residents voiced their concerns about going that route. Many suggested the town bill a flat rate until the billing software was deemed accurate. That suggestion was shot down by a majority of the Water and Sewer Joint Powers Board and the Saratoga Town Council. However, the Water and Sewer Joint Powers Board did promise to revisit the situation next month if water bills continue to be inaccurate. But residents need a new solution now.
The current council-approved solution puts responsibility and burden on individual water consumers to check their bills for accuracy.
The town is working on fixing the problem. Saratoga Town Clerk Suzie Cox and PMPC engineer Ken Schwerdt have been working with Sensus, the company that designed the meters, to ensure accurate billing.
But Saratoga residents can’t be expected to stand by and hope for accurate billing.
The Saratoga Town Council needs to take responsibility and come up with a short-term solution that works and is fair for all residents until billing discrepancies are fixed.
The town council should also work on long-term solutions for water billing by allowing consumers to see their own water usage.
The current system does not provide water consumers any means to view their water usage, and attempting to open the manhole covers on these new water meters is a felony, according to Saratoga Mayor John Zeiger.
Are Saratoga water users expected to accept the reading of a potentially inaccurate system?
The town needs to take the necessary steps to allow consumers reasonable accesses to information relating to water usage.
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