BELTON, Mo. — Keiona Williams couldn't believe it when she opened her water bill in December and saw she owed $866.
"It just doesn't make sense," Williams said.
She said she immediately contacted her leasing office.
"They came out to check any leaks, couldn't find any leaks," Williams said. "My husband ended up saying, 'Hey, can you check this water that I see in the garage?'"
Her husband noticed a small trickle of water down the wall. Williams said the maintenance employee tore out a chunk of the wall to take a look, but couldn't find anything major that would warrant a $866 bill.
According to their meter, they had used 34,000 gallons of water in one month.
"Even the wood inside the wall was not wet," Williams said, showing 41 Action News a picture.
Finally in January, her duplex's maintenance crew replaced a spigot inside the wall and reported back to the water department.
By then, the family had received their January bill, which showed 12,000 gallons in one month, which is still extremely high for a family with three young children.
"We want to help them if they have an issue, but they need to do it timely so that we're not not wasting water and having to pay more to Kansas City, Missouri," said Sheila Ernzen, Belton's finance director and assistant city manager.
Belton gets their water from Kansas City, and has to pay them back.
Ernzen suggested Williams ask her landlord to help.
The past-due bills and fees were piling up and the Belton water department threatened they'd shut the Williams family's water off.
Williams got help through a city ordinance that knocked $434 off her bill, but she still owed a little over $500. She ended up paying it.
If a resident can show their bill is two and a half times more than the last three bills after a leak or break, the city can grant an adjustment.
However, by the time Williams got her January bill, it wasn't two and a half times higher than the $866, so she couldn't get any further help.
Williams said she shouldn't be on the hook for this.
"It's just rough. It's like, we still have to pay other bills and other rent and we have three kids," Williams said. "So, it's like we have to do all this, plus pay for water. It's $800 total now."
Despite her frustration, the city said Williams will still have to pay.
"There was nothing more we could do because we had done everything according to our ordinance," Ernzen said.
41 Action News contacted Williams' landlord, Axiom Property Management, but they did not return the call.
Belton is preparing to increase the water bill rates in April, another issue raising concern among residents.
Customers can expect a $3 to $15 monthly increase. The money will be used to fund a massive project to replace old water pipes.
The pipes are more than 75 years old. It will cost the city $1 million dollars to replace a mile section, and they need to do it now, Ernzen said.
"We're trying to increase the rates so that we can systematically start replacing that and not do it under an emergency basis, where we have a water main break and we're having to turn off people's water, paying overtime, and patching up streets," Ernzen said.
Residents are trying to gather enough signatures to audit the water department, and started a Facebook group for their effort.
The group is holding a petition signing event on Saturday, Feb. 8 at the Main Street Car Wash from 9 a.m. to noon.
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