Residents say they’re highly concerned that their sewer rates are higher than their water rates, which they say is not usually the case.
TOLEDO, Ohio — Gloria Sheppard has lived on Fredalia Road in west Toledo for more than 40 years — and she says she’s never seen anything like her water bill she received in June.
“In June, my bill was about six times higher than normal,” Sheppard said.
When she called the city, she was told her neighbor’s bill had accidentally been attached to hers. But even after that was fixed, the total stayed unusually high.
“Once this was resolved, the bill was still very, very high,” she said. “There’s something wrong with the billing.”
Her neighbor, Pam Barber, says her bill jumped from around $70 a month to more than $740, despite only two people living in her home.
“We’re never there,” Barber said. “It makes no sense.”
Toledo City Council member George Sarantou agrees that residents are right to be upset. He says council was not warned about the potential spike after the city eliminated winter averaging, a policy that once helped stabilize bills through the summer.
“I think it was eliminated basically to use that extra revenue to pay for the water reclamation plant,” he said.
Residents say they’re highly concerned that their sewer rates are higher than their water rates, and Sarantou agrees with residents that they’re being wrongfully charged.
“The water’s not going in the sewer. If I wash my car, if I water my garden, if I water my grass or I fill the pool, it’s not going into the street, into the sewers. That’s what’s upsetting to a lot of people.”
Sarantou says the city is also making up for not collecting past due bills during COVID.
“As a result of that, we’re owed $66 million. That’s outrageous,” he said.
The city’s commissioner of water, Cindy Geronimo, is now reviewing meter readings in the neighborhood. Residents say they’ve also contacted the mayor and Engage Toledo for help.
Engage Toledo advised homeowners to explore senior discounts and use rain barrels to lower bills. Sheppard says she thinks a solution would be for the city should install a secondary irrigation system to get a more accurate read on sewer rates.
“They’re collecting money from us for something we’re not receiving,” she said.
Sarantou says this could be a potential solution, and he’s working with the Department of Public Utilities and councilman Sam Melden to get lower rates for residents starting next year.
After four months with no clear fix, neighbors say they’re running out of patience.
“I feel like I’m being taken advantage of by somebody because if they don’t, because they don’t have the ability to distinguish, that’s not my problem, and I don’t feel that’s how it should be conducted,” Sheppard said.
This article was published by Faith Zochowski on 2025-10-13 19:23:00
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