Meridian Ranch residents flustered over July water bill skyrocketing, Service Metro District responds

PEYTON, Colo. (KRDO) - Homeowners in the Meridian Service Metro District say their July water bills spiked dramatically - up to 4 times higher in some cases.

Instead of the normal 28-31 day billing cycle, customers in the district were charged for 39 days. 

The district says the reason for the extended bill period was due to a malfunction in the districts equipment that reads customers meters, and that they only counted 4 additional billing days - not 9 as reported by customers.

"I'm not seeing any pushed out that far." stated Jim Nikkel, the Manager for the Meridian Service Metro District.

Nikkel stated that no notice was given that the extended days would be coming, but rather they were focused on getting a replacement antennae for their meter reading equipment.

"We're not on Facebook. We're not on social media. I don't have the staff to seeing to that and to monitor that. Should we maybe have posted something on our website in hindsight? Maybe so." stated Nikkel.

Nikkel explains the high bills are mostly from customers simply using more water in the summer, as this time of year the climate gets hotter and more residents are irrigating their properties.

He also contends that residents should be sure to check that they don't have any leaks in their homes, which can prove costly if unattended to during a billing period.

But some homeowners like Rory Fields, say he had a plumber check their home for leaks -- and there were none. 

Fields showed KRDO news that his bill went from about 109 dollars in June, to being over 700 dollars from a reported 44,000 gallons used in July.

Fields property also has artificial turf in the backyard, and only a drip line for the handful of plants they have on the property.

The situation leaves him scratching his head.

"Even if I doubled the number of days for the June billing, which would have been ended up being 38,000 gallons for 44 days, it still doesn't add up to offer that extra 6,000 gallons for fewer days."

Nikkel also stated that the issue only impacted a small number of his customer base - with about three dozen people who opened up complaints with their office, amongst 3,500 accounts.

KRDO made a post in a Meridian Ranch Facebook group, as seen below, asking about residents' experiences with their July water bill. The post garnered over 160 reactions, and over 110 comments in just over 24 hours, with many residents sharing similar stories with their bills.

Customers who are still concerned about their bill - are asked to call the water district directly to resolve any disputes.