SAN DIEGO — CBS 8 viewers continue to email us about water bills and the confusion surrounding them.
One viewer wrote, “You should advise people to take their bills off auto-pay. What if they get a $5,000 bill, and it takes all their money?”
We are Working for You to clear this up.
It does not make a difference whether you are on auto-pay or not.
- The Public Utilities Department told CBS 8:
- “Bills are held when a water meter read is significantly outside the typical range based on historic usage so that public utility staff can manually investigate the account to determine the cause of the abnormal read. Due to staffing challenges, the public utilities department is, unfortunately, unable to investigate each account immediately. We have also had staffing challenges in meter reading in 2023."
- Whether you use auto-pay or not, if the city is investigating your water bill, the bill will remain at zero, and you will not be charged until you get an account in the mail.
- You also won't be notified until you suddenly receive a big bill.
Another CBS 8 viewer wrote, “We were set on autopsy, and the city never deducted money for over a year."
- Auto-pay or not, you need to pay attention to your water bill.
- Create an account with the Public Utilities Department, login, and regularly check.
- If you find a zero balance, know that something is wrong.
CBS 8 viewer Donna Titus wrote, "That has to be the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. It is no way to run any business, but a city as large as San Diego needs to address this 'business model' as soon as possible.”
At CBS 8, we are always Working for You and our community. This is a station promise that we will go the extra mile to solve a problem our audience can’t solve themselves. We want to hear your ideas on how we can cover and help our community. If you have a story idea, please email us at workingforyou@cbs8.com.
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