INKSTER, Mich. – Inkster residents have reached their boiling point with high water bills and often conflicting answers to what’s been going on.
“My God, if it’s this high now, what’s going to happen in two months?” Geneva Goldston, whose family currently has a $1,600 water bill, said on Thursday.
People have seen their water bills jump by hundreds, and even thousands of dollars, since last summer.
“What happened is when I let them come in my basement and change that water meter. That’s when everything happened,” Anthony Gregory said on Friday. He was at Inkster City Hall disputing a bill has ballooned to more than $2,500
What he’s referring to is the water meter replacement program that has been active for nearly a year.
According to the residents we have heard from, the addition of those meters has sent their water bills through the roof.
Back in October, Inkster Mayor Byron Nolen said that the issue is not the meters but “an error during the migration of previous account data” and said the city would work to “permanently solve the issue of incorrect balances and errors.”
After multiple attempts to reach Nolen and Public Services Director Jerome Bivins, Local 4 went to Inkster City Hall on Friday.
City Treasurer Darin Carrington eventually came out and had a spirited conversation with Mr. Gregory.
He told Local 4 that both Nolen and Bivins were not available on Friday, but the city would be addressing the matter.
Even still, the frustration continues to mount.
“It was a parking lot full of people out here for the same thing,” Gregory said, holding his $2,500 water bill. “It’s crazy, man. This s*** is crazy.”