Some Peninsulans are getting an unexpected surprise in their mailboxes: several months worth of water bills all due at once.

And the unprecedented “glitch” seems as wacky as it is unsettling, considering the amounts on some of those delayed water bills, which just stopped coming regularly, are in the hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars.

One recent water billing “victim” is retired Point Loman Don Sevrens.

“Six months of water bills arrived on a (recent) Saturday,” said Sevrens, who has a normal-sized Point Loma lot. “We have had problems of non-reading and erratic swings in meter reading. The City installed at my demand, and my cost, an electronic meter. About six months ago it stopped sending bills while it tried to improve its system.”

Sevrens noted he turned off his irrigation completely because of the winter rains. “Imagine my surprise at seeing $28,000 in bills, all due Aug. 31, 2023,” he said adding his bills, in the amounts of $1,618.71, $2,857.2, $4,380.80, $4,624.85, $4,967.97, and $6,405,91 total about $25,000. “They all claim to be ‘actual reads,’” noted Sevrens adding, “One bill is for only 98 gallons a day, yet the billing amount is $4,624.65.”

Elizabeth Courtier, a historic and architectural specialist with Sotheby’s International Realty who works in La Jolla, shares a similar water bill “dilemma” with Sevrens. “I contacted the (City Water) Department a few months ago once I realized that I had not received a bill for quite some time,” she said. “Unfortunately, I pay off paper bills, and so was not aware of the eight-month lapse. After numerous phone calls, an appeal, and lots of money, everything was resolved. But what a mess.”

Sevrens posted this recent warning on Next Door social media: “No water bill? Can you remember the last time you received a water bill from the City? This is not a trick question. The bills normally are sent out every other month but not on the same date. If your account shows astronomical usage, however, the City suspends sending out bills. The resident is supposed to be notified but that is ‘not’ happening. After a year, an unknown number of residents are receiving six bills in one envelope. The total due may exceed $5,000 or $6,000. This is the first time they become aware of the problem. So, if you can’t remember and don’t have a check stub showing a payment for a long, long time, be forewarned.”

Arian Collins, City supervising spokesperson, said the Public Utilities Department is in the process of completely overhauling its outdated customer service system to better serve San Diegans. “Making these changes has not been easy due to the system’s complexity,” he said. “Currently, 90% of our customers are getting their bills on time, and we are working to get that number to 100%.”

Collins noted the City’s billing system is programmed to hold bills that reflect abnormal water usage and/or exceptionally high balances. “This is meant to allow our team to investigate and ensure that we are providing that customer with an accurate bill,” he pointed out. “We don’t want to send our customers bills that are not accurate and that could be resolved before even reaching the customer. Unfortunately, there is a backlog of investigations. So, we aren’t resolving the account concerns and releasing bills as quickly as we would like and as quickly as our customers should expect.”

Added Collins: “The City is finalizing a billing system change so that it will automatically generate a letter to residents when their water bill is being held for investigation. We are always willing to work with our customers. We understand phone and email response times are long, but encourage customers to reach out if they haven’t received a bill.”

Collins said: “While it may seem overwhelming to receive more than one bill all at once, customers can pay off their balance over time with no penalty or interest charged. Any customer who did not timely receive their water utility bill and had a leak during that billing period, can contact the Public Utilities Department at 619-515-3500 and request an adjustment.”

“Since 2019, we’ve implemented changes to address longstanding systemic problems in order to improve billing processes and the quality of service for the 283,000 household and business accounts we serve,” states the City’s website link. “These include adding staff, enhancing training, and providing customers faster and more convenient access to our services with online and phone system improvements and technology upgrades.”

The City’s Public Utilities Department conducted a 2018 Performance Audit of Water Billing Operations focusing on water-meter reading, billing, and communication which revealed:

• Outdated technology for the call center phone system.
• Processes lacking efficiency.
• Inadequate training programs for employees on how to resolve both technical and non-technical issues.
• Staff vacancies and need for more effective management oversight.

“Eight of the 10 recommendations made in that audit have now been implemented,” the City said. “Over the past six months, Public Utilities has made significant progress in improving online access to water and wastewater services, modernizing our phone system, and with recruitment, enhancement, and training of customer support staff. Wait times have decreased for people calling the Customer Service Center. As of August 2023, call wait times have dropped to an average of 35 minutes.”

Added the City: “Public Utilities is on track to launch a modernized phone system this year, which will allow for more efficient call resolutions and data-driven resource allocations. Over the past year, Public Utilities has hired 13 additional customer support representatives and has expanded training for current staff. As a result, in the last 10 months, our customer support representatives have reduced a backlog of service requests from 3,000 to 600, also helping ensure customers are appropriately billed for water and wastewater services.”

The City added its Public Utilities Department is developing a new online customer self-service portal that integrates with the billing system, allowing customers to complete the most common service requests quickly and conveniently from a computer or mobile device. The first phase of the new self-service portal is expected by spring 2024.