I-Team: Atlanta water bill -- City Council member says he 'wouldn't put up with' rejected appeals
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.พ. 2024
- By Dana Fowle
Published February 5, 2024
ATLANTA - Atlanta Watershed Management's appeals board is where you go when you feel you've been unfairly charged for water usage. But a months-long FOX 5 I-Team investigation shows not many people win their cases.
After hearing the stories of two account holders, two Atlanta City Council members said the appeals board is the problem.
FULL STORY: www.fox5atlanta.com/news/atla...
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![[Full] 4 ต่อ 4 Celebrity EP.880 | 19 พ.ค. 67 | one31](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/rs-_BVXsOWw/mqdefault.jpg)
Take them, the board members, to _court!_ That board needs to be disbanded.
The idea of an appeals board for water is just crazy, too much government. I bet they each are making 75k+ a year for this b.s. too
take the defective water meter, and install it in one of the board members house, see how fast they changed when they get the big water bill.
@@giveme5mins at the time you wrote this you couldn't but now you can. If it gets reported against their credit they have the right under fair reporting act of 1974. The Supreme Court just confirmed that any person or entity can be held liable for unfair reporting practices.
be careful here make sure as part of the argument you should accuse the board of gross negligence in the performance of their duty since in some states this opens them to liability for damages such as court costs even if there is no explicate fee shifting statute if you can prove it
@@giveme5minsergo disband them. That’s corruption and they need to stop it
I’m willing to bet the appeal board is pocketing the money and purposefully denying.
Unlikely, since they don't control the money in the first place.
They’re just government workers doing the minimal amount of work at a cushy job. They probably didn’t put too much thought into their decisions because they’re not liable for their actions.
Yup!
@@ternyb1391 I think they are likely volunteers.
Given the circumstances and outcomes, there seems to be some undue influence. It could be kickbacks. It could be an attempt to illicit bribes. It could be another senior government official putting pressure on them to avoid giving money back. Something's off.
Follow the money. Someone is a crook.
ALL of them are crooked and need to put in prison for defrauding the public.
"Training issue?"
That's an odd way of saying "open corruption."
I agree; it's the same line that far too many police departments have been using for far too long.
It's obvious corruption. They must be getting kick backs from the water servicer
This is the kind of reporting we need for every little petty bureaucracy across the country. Sunlight is the best disinfectant.
The appeals court is not the problem. The problem is the water company and the appeals board. There is clearly a kickback somewhere. Start with looking at the campaign funds these people are getting.
Just hate anyone who works in punlic water. Computers can keep tabs and bills besides plumbers snd a few programmers the communism paperwork people are there to scam us and make money off the people
It’s as likely the staff telling them how to vote. Nobody is looking at staff….they control these decisions.
Exactly, it is a deliberate effort to defraud people.
What campaign funds, they are appointed.
golf course across the street of the vacant home, is the only thing that could use that kind of water without flooding out the area
Time to fire "The Board".
But that would be racist
as well as the folks who appoint/ed those positions
Out of a water cannon!
Why the hell is it so hard to believe a meter is effed up?
Oh they do I had this as well with my electricity. Suddenly my bills were crazy and I was paying more than double each month. I had to fight to get them to send someone to look at the meter because I knew I wasn’t using more. They eventually did after months and he agreed the meter was broken and arranged for a replacement. Straight away my bills plummeted. I then had to fight for a refund on my over payments. When I finally managed that they just credited my account (over £2k). I then had to fight to get that money as they just wanted it as a credit on my account and I wanted the money. I did get it eventually.
because someone has to pay for the water, or their budget gets audited.... hint
This kind of blatant corruption shouldn't be allowed. EVERY MEMBER OF THE BOARD IS 100% AT FAULT! Got to start making the names of board members public so INTERNET JUSTICE will get them motivated to take corrective action!
Hey, now, both members who talked to the news were arguing in favor of these homeowners, and got outvoted. Let's not paint it with such a wide brush.
@kateshiningdeer3334 the two men who talked to the news are city council members, NOT members of the previously mentioned appeals board.
They are not part of the appeals board, they are from the city expressing frustration with the appeal board@@kateshiningdeer3334
They are crooks making him pay all that money they know he didn’t use all that water GIVE HIM ALL OF THAT MONEY BACK DONT CHARGE HIM
In the second case someone was stealing the water. The homeowner knew for months about the high bills and did NOTHING to mitigate their damages. Why didn't they put a lock on their meter so that no one could steal the water? Why didn't they check the meter and find out which days someone was stealing the water?. Or call the police and report the theft?
@@FloridaMugwump Where does say someone was stealing the water ?? Or are you just talking out your ass ??
I clearly understand what's happening here. It's corruption at the highest levels. How can a property use that much water without being connected to anything? What does the meter show from month to month? Take a picture. Furthermore, it's just COMMONSENSE. If average human beings can understand what's going on, why can't the appeals board?
@@FloridaMugwumpthere was no service to the connection yet (hence how it also wasn’t on a house line). One can’t steal that which isn’t there in the first place. Do tell, how does one mitigate a mysterious third party’s non existent water use? Did it occur to you the bill was in and of itself a self perpetuating error? What you did do was supply a lot of convenient conjecture. You have no idea what the contractor did or didn’t do in response to receiving the bills; you’re making it up as you go, conveniently supplying info helpful to your position as needed. Here you’ve also imposed a legal duty that doesn’t exist on the property owner. The city is responsible for their water lines and equipment, including meters. When a connection isn’t live yet, there shouldn’t be a bill-period. If there is, the water company has a problem are obligated to address. But you see, there is always a disconnect between operations and billing that leads to this kind of stupidity. Then it’s people like you who ensure it continues since you blame those being victimized by governmental/bureaucratic incompetence🙄
there are no consequences for getting it wrong.
They appoint unqualified people to this board.
Nepotism and favoritism are behind nearly all Atlanta government hires. Everybody is related to somebody or knows somebody or trades favors with someone. They do not hire on merit or skill. The job tasks themselves are dumbed down to a point where anyone can do it, so they hire anyone, especially friends and relatives.
Unqualified from a citizens perspective….highly qualified from a government perspective 🫣
It is physically impossible for the property owner to have used this much water in such a short span of time. This would be a dozen swimming pools worth of water every week for months!!!
have THEM arrested for theft.
I clearly understand what's happening here. It's corruption at the highest levels. How can a property use that much water without being connected to anything? What does the meter show from month to month? Take a picture. Furthermore, it's just COMMONSENSE. If average human beings can understand what's going on, why can't the appeals board?
You watched Steve Lehto, didn't you?
I actually did some math and found that given the max flow rate of a residential waterline, it is possible to use the reported amount of water in the allotted time. However, that amount of water is gonna be incredibly obvious due to street flooding and erosion, so it would have been noticed if that actually was happening.
@@JonathanKayne Okay, you know math. Why doesn't the appeals board? What metric are they using to deny appeals?
At this point a major law suit needs to come into play
Contact the DoJ and the FTC and file a class-action lawsuit on behalf of all customers and sue them for $100M and individually sue each board member!!!
It's a money grab scam.
I had a $10,000 gas bill for a month in a small 4 car garage. The gas company was absolutely ridiculous about fixing it. Utility companies are almost as shady as towing companies.
They’re running a racket and pocketing the rest of the money themselves. They need to audit the entire water board and the appeals board too.
They have a monetary stake in rejecting the appeals. If they cannot decide appeals fairly, they should not be responsible for deciding appeals.
which is just like insurance and disability cases with Social Security, denials are job security
“Just a couple hundred bucks difference.” For a lot of us, $200 is still a lot of money.
For many people, that amount can mean the difference between paying rent that month, or putting food on the table.
An unexpected $200 expense can end up putting a lot of us on the street, with nowhere to live.
These people don’t care what happens to us regular people. The politicians look at us like peasants.
If $200 will put you on the street, perhaps get off the Internet and go get a job.
@@beepbop6697who's saying anyone's unemployed,most people make about 30k a year, subtract rent utilities health care and unexpected expenses and you're probably going to be homeless especially if your single without family
@@drasticallyfantastic7164 I didn't say anything about being unemployed. I said if a $200 unexpected expense will make you homeless then you are doing something wrong and should fix your finances.
@@beepbop6697 Not everyone has a mommy and daddy to pay for our living expenses... someone sounds privledged....
Isn't it illegal to bill for a non-existant debt? Can I bill the meter committee for my excess reflected radiation? I figure they owe me 6 million. I can bill them? Also, let's not forget, the legal system isn't available for the vast majority of us.
Seems the Government feels they are untouchable by the commoners. My son works for the State and has been shorted on his check multiple times. Last time was 14hrs and on top of that he was supposed to get time and a half due to it being a holiday he worked. Months later they finally paid him... for one hour. If a private business did this they would be fined for every instance this happened. But sadly the Gov can do what ever, this needs to change. Son has told them they can pound salt and has given them his resignation. Don't blame him.
Things only work properly when you're rich. The little man can get stomped on every day because they're already standing on our heads. Their mistakes are even forgiven while we are vilified for ours.
Like that one guy who just sent large bill invoices to places like Google. They paid them without even looking, and he got in trouble. It's only a persecutable "scam" when one person does it and profits from it. If more people profit and lose, it's called business.
Be careful with that question.
@@Teenage_Mutant_Ginga_Ninjabs. The government is stealing its citizens. This is not a rich vs poor people thing.
Fire them all! This is extortion! If they don’t pay and the water shut off, then the city will condemn the home. They only need to face charges!
Who is going to fire them?
@@neilkurzman4907 The city councilors who say they disagree with the decisions. If they don't fire them the news station needs to be updated so they do another story and get the councillors enough bad press to that they don't get relected.
For decades my water usage has been roughly the same every month. One month it was triple the usual amount so I called the water company. Their response was "too bad, pay the bill." No leaks. No running toilets. Outside taps shut off inside the house. They didn't care.
make them care. when the First Amendment doesn't work, we move on down the list.
Also check the meter number against your bill. I don't think they check them 'by hand' anymore.
@@gatornaught8984 - bingo..... which is why the suspect should be that golf course across the street of the vacant home'
@@kingmasterlordGood phrasing.
Sue the water company and hold them accountable.
You have to go through the administrative appeals process before you can sue them.
@@karlroveyloopholes
This whole thing reeks of incompetence. I would like to know how people are appointed to the Water Board and the appeals board. Are they compensated or is it voluntary? If folks have to go to the courts for resolution , and win, then the city of Atlanta should be responsible for their legal costs. Why is there no mention of the Mayor in all of this. Why isn't Mayor Dickens involved? Sounds legit ke poor administration in Atlanta.
Sue for fraud and racketeering.
This is crazy. This is like people enjoy being stupid. *GET RID OF THE APPEALS BOARD AND START OVER!*
I first heard about this from Steve Lheto. That board should be ashamed of themselves, and removed from office.
How could it be any other way when the department asking for your payment is the same department that investigates your claim.
What's strange is that the utility company doesn't pay the site a visit and test their equipment. If there isn't an Olympic size pool or swamp, that should clue the utility company that something is wrong with their equipment.
This screams "kick backs" somewhere. Who benefit from this?
It's not training, IT'S PAYOFFS.
One time I had a small water leak and checked my meter and noticed it was it was not ticking. I called the city and they came out and fixed the meter. The previous meter had over 700k gallons used on it. They replaced it with one that read zero. I was then charged for the new meter that read zero to the 700k gallons that had accumulated over years on the previous meter. The utility crew told me it was from the water leak. I tried to explain the simple logic of what happened as well as told them over 700k is enough to fill up a 3 acre pond one foot deep. They still blamed it on the leak. I had to go and speak in front of city council and the mayor and they found I was right and the city utility was wrong. My bill went from $4,750 to $120. Thank goodness logic won in the end.
Whether it’s incompetence or malice, the clowns on that board need to go. Denying the appeal of a 5-digit bill when they were shown proof that it was a problem with their equipment is an outrage and shows they aren’t fit to be in charge of anything.
How would they account for such a large amount was supposedly used without water meter to track it? The board has to be challenged for their track record. The board does not expect people to go to higher court and expect them to just pay up. City attorneys are there to protect the city leaders not citizens.
What does $30L mean?
Was the picture supposed to say $30K?
Yeah, that one confused me too. And yes, it was a typo. As you noted, 30K.
There's the first Comment I came to find. Now let's see if somebody commented on her screwed up, nasty red lipstick 🤦
That isn’t a problem with training that is a problem with corruption.
Guaranteed this money has been embezzled and already spent.
Someone needs to get all the councilors on video making a statement on these cases. Then if either publicises the ones who won't say it is wrong. If most say it wrong then ask them on video why the board has not been fired. The councilors are obviously not going to do their job without the threat of their deliquency being exposed.
Criminals come in all shapes. Just that simple. This is obvious but people should monitor all utility bills. Five or ten dollars per bill, multiplied by thousands of customers happened here by another company. Happening again. A class action suit got them once but will it take that to get honesty this time? Hope not. If a problem is seen, it should be addressed properly.
The water company should be sued for stealing. Those customers never got what they paid for.
The appeals board is very corrupt. The evidence is clear. I hope that this goes to court and these incorrect bills are cancelled. Some of the board members need to be fired and others need to be retrained.
The lesson here. Make the installation of any forced government tracking devices the LAST thing you do when building a home.
Those appeal denials are too illogical not to be corrupt. It makes me wonder whether funds are being mishandled.
Because otherwise what would their motivation be?
So, to dispute a fraudulent bill totaling thousands of dollars and the appeals board says no, you have to hire a lawyer...to spend thousands of dollars (that you probably don't have in the first place).
So it goes from bad to worse.
I'm actually surprised a civil law firm hasn't picked these two cases up for free for the plaintiffs, as it'd basically be free advertising and publicity for your firm to take the case. One of those "you don't pay us unless we win" kind of things.
@@XSFx5 Most of those kinds of law firms usually survive on cases that don't drag out and end with a settlement. A case like this, unfortunately, ends up turning into a protracted battle because the law firm will be fighting against a taxpayer-funded law office.
@@WannabeWRX good point. Although this one is making national news with strong overwhelming evidence leaning towards and extortion scheme by somebody or some people connected with the water company and this appeals council board. I am not a law expert but it's a pretty solid tort case against that water department and board members (to be named individually), and I agree with the others that if this is investigated fully by a federal or state agency there likely could be some criminal activity by the board members who likely know well that the water flow meters are erroneous but yet are insisting that the victims pay the bogus charges in full. Sovereign immunity does not excuse gross negligence of their appointed duties & oath of office at minimum; or prison time for a criminal extortion scheme at worst. That's my 2 cents anyways. I mean if fire fighters, police, and EMS get sued for doing their duty properly but it's being questioned and investigated in court; then neither do these individuals on this appeals board claim they are above the law. So again, which law firm wants to step up to the plate to take this on? ACLU maybe? A private firm? Who knows, but I wish somebody would offer to legally help out to the two victims (the builder and the home owner) in this situation.
Are they get kick backs for rejecting their appeals or is the board just incompetent.
Not getting that warm fuzzy feeling on my wife and myself relocating to Atlanta!
The city of Atlanta has had these issues for years. I remember reading about how the subcontractors were putting the wrong size head (where you see the numbers) on the wrong meter body (the bronze piece). That is how you get bad readings. BTW I work for a water company as a field service worker.
WTF!!!!
Am I the only one to point out the '30L' ON THE THUMBNAIL?
Well this is Atlanta Georgia, who is surprised that someone is crooked and it's costing the public money !!! Every time I turn around I hear something else about some kind of crooked something or other going on in Atlanta houses being torn down by the city without contacting the homeowners is just another story that comes to mind !
board of politically appointed members - what could go wrong?
Go to court and make the Water Board pay for all court costs, personal losses to fight this insanity, expenses and pain and suffering. These corrupt boards need to be dismantled.
This whole board is corrupt and needs to be fired!!!
They need to investigate the finances of the members of that board. I bet people will go to prison.
They should place criminal charges against the utility for undue stress and incompetence.
Sounds like Des Moines (Iowa) Water Works. They've been charging me for water and garbage pick-up for about 10 years and I have well water and a private garbage pick-up. I've tried to get them to stop but no one listens and they keep changing me and then they put the cost onto my property tax, so it has to be paid or the take my house 😠 I'm living off social security and it's an extra expense I never expected 😥
I needed a follow-up on this story. Thank you!
The city attorney needs to be disbarred -- complete repudiation of ethics obligations for licensure anywhere in the US...
This is just downright criminal.
Appointed? FIRE THEM ALL, THEN start investigating WHERE all the money is going!
Sending hope from Wisconsin! This is ridiculous!
Here’s your solution.
The obviously incorrect bills are dropped.
The county or whatever in charge provides a written apology to both men.
Everyone on the board is dismissed.
ALL previous board decisions are re opened to appeal by complainants.
Everyone on the board, and the county or whatever, is given an audit and investigated by the IRS for fraud.
Like the guy said the next big step will cost you money. Take the case to the court. And when they get that summons how fast they will lower his water bill.and give him a brand new water meter.
Most people can't afford to pay an attorney's retainer fee and the court costs to sue a major company. Justice isn't for the poor.
You need to take the Water Board to regular court and sue them for extortion.
You don't need "training". What you need is Common Fcking Sense and people who are versed in the utilities industries, not DEI for starters
Shut up
I’ll look look at you repeating your Fox News initials of the month. No that’s not the problem.
Same here in Philadelphia. Bad meters. Overcharging. Appeals denied.
Fairly clear cut case of corruption. Every homeowner wronged by the board needs to sue. Not just for the corrected bill, but for damages. Cost of legal defense, time and money lost fighting stupidity, the works. A few million dollars in payouts due to OBVIOUS judgements will start to get things fixed. If nothing else, great money for the home owners.
That is a complete scam! Pure dishonesty on the part of the appeals board. Disband the appeals board and take them to court.
Why is that one meter buried 1 meter underground though? That's ridiculous.
I would personally sue each of these board members for $100,000 each. Maybe just maybe they would change their minds.
Unfortunately government protects its own.
Get a class action in order and sue them into the dirt.
Electronic meters ARE SUBJECT TO FAILURE far before mechanical types. Just looking at the volume of water billed, vs. what the actual plumbing can carry is ILLOGICAL. It defies the basic plumbing science math. In almost all regards the pipe has to be 3 inches or larger and residential curb to house water lines are 1 to 1.5 inches and rarely 2 inches. In one of these cases it shows the equivalent of EIGHT SWIMMING POOLS of water being flowed per 24 hours. Home water mains? Take nearly a week of 24 hour flow to fill your average swimming pool. That is how insane this is.
Thanks for your expertise. Your explation allows us to get a better idea of the nonsense of this situation (as well as vertigo 🤯🤯🤯).
God, that must be infuriating, especially after multiple appeals. It's one of those things that just makes you feel helpless, and like nobody cares.
SUE THEM FOR FRAUD AND THEFT OF SERVICES CLASS ACTION
Supreme Court time. People need to go to jail over this. Someone is spending money they don’t have and getting it all back through bogus denials to claims.
Chicago's water dept does the same thing.
The point of having a board is to PREVENT something like this from happening in the first place.
Another reason why you don't want the government in charge of things.
This is just one, very obvious case. Can you imagine how many hundreds of others are getting small ammounts added to their bills and either don't notice or have no way to prove it?
Notice the race of the board and then ask again, are you surprised they dont work?
Sounds like corruption and those members belong in prison or much worse.
Sounds like the board members may need to serve prison time for this.
Everytime there's a defect, the appeals board thinks there's a water theft
Time to sue, and get extra for the issues and costs associated
It's NOT a training issue. It's a $$$$ issue! Have you done any investigation into if the board members get a bonus off of how they rule?
Time to sue them for fraud and extortion.
They need to be seriously investigated, only reason for them to play those games is they are obtaining illegal financial gain for themselves, there is no other reason, it hurts no one to recognize these are errors and need to be fixed save for as i stated someone is getting paid, quite possibly all of them. Audit all their financials!
If the city attorney is arguing against the facts on the ground, he has forgotten who is paying his salary--the citizens--and you need to start your investigation of the board process right there. He should not be defending political or organizational interests that are in any way distinct from, or opposed to, the citizens and public good. That is a job where integrity and fairness especially matter.
Vote the board member out. Put some people with common sense on the board.
Their Crooks..I can't tell me their not pocketing money.
Considering the one guy got charged for 30k when there was no water line hooked up. He needs to sue the city itself.
They are putting that money in their pockets.
To court! that's stealing
I would sue each board member personally
Crooks!!!
"whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it" Abolish the Water Dept Board!!!
The fact that these people can not understand this is just stupid.
State needs to step in and arrest everyone in the utility appeals board for open corruption
Take those boards and individual members to court. I have no problem paying a lawyer to prove I’m right rather than give a bunch of dummies or crooks my hard earned money.
Who's dropping the ball and getting paid to do it?