Midland Woman Struggles to Pay High Water Bill
By: Jenne Anderson
Updated: October 15, 2012
MIDLAND-- It's been a rough couple of months for Megail Garrett.
"I'm truly frustrated," said Garrett. "I don't know what to do or where to turn."
Garrett says the majority of her problems stem from a hidden water leak on the side of her home. A home which she inherited 2 years ago without any word of the problem.
"It's been a true struggle because everywhere I turned it was like we were starting over again with the water leak," explained Garrett. "No matter what I did to fix it, it did no good."
Because she was dumping so much money into fixing the water problem, Garrett says she got 10 months behind on her mortgage and had to foreclose on her home.
Now she's left homeless, financially drained from the leak, and looking at a $3 thousand water bill from the city of Midland.
"I don't know how to begin to pay that," said Garrett. "I tried to make payment arrangements with them numerous times and they said that they could not make arrangements with me because, number 1 it was an ongoing leak, and number 2 they didn't know what to charge me."
Tony Goyang is the division manager for the Midland Customer Service Department.
He says since the city recently raised their rates they've seen more residents with steep water bills.
Goyang says just like Garrett, most of the time it's a result of a water leak.
And with the higher tiered water rate in place, these problems are finally surfacing when residents get their monthly bill.
"Our advice first is for the citizen to contact us immediately when they have such a leak," said Goyang. "Then we go and determine what kind of leak, and how much water they're losing."
Goyang says they work with each billing case individually, but to get the ball rolling residents first have to completely fix their leak problem.
But Garrett says to get that done it will be another $2,500, which she simply doesn't have.
"It's not that I don't want to pay it, it's just that I don't know how to pay it," said Garrett. "I don't have that kind of money."
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"I'm truly frustrated," said Garrett. "I don't know what to do or where to turn."
Garrett says the majority of her problems stem from a hidden water leak on the side of her home. A home which she inherited 2 years ago without any word of the problem.
"It's been a true struggle because everywhere I turned it was like we were starting over again with the water leak," explained Garrett. "No matter what I did to fix it, it did no good."
Because she was dumping so much money into fixing the water problem, Garrett says she got 10 months behind on her mortgage and had to foreclose on her home.
Now she's left homeless, financially drained from the leak, and looking at a $3 thousand water bill from the city of Midland.
"I don't know how to begin to pay that," said Garrett. "I tried to make payment arrangements with them numerous times and they said that they could not make arrangements with me because, number 1 it was an ongoing leak, and number 2 they didn't know what to charge me."
Tony Goyang is the division manager for the Midland Customer Service Department.
He says since the city recently raised their rates they've seen more residents with steep water bills.
Goyang says just like Garrett, most of the time it's a result of a water leak.
And with the higher tiered water rate in place, these problems are finally surfacing when residents get their monthly bill.
"Our advice first is for the citizen to contact us immediately when they have such a leak," said Goyang. "Then we go and determine what kind of leak, and how much water they're losing."
Goyang says they work with each billing case individually, but to get the ball rolling residents first have to completely fix their leak problem.
But Garrett says to get that done it will be another $2,500, which she simply doesn't have.
"It's not that I don't want to pay it, it's just that I don't know how to pay it," said Garrett. "I don't have that kind of money."
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