Residents tell Texarkana council they face 'insane' water bills; officials point to Riverbend fees and new meters

Dozens of residents told the Texarkana City Council on Jan. 12 that they are receiving unusually high water bills and asked the city to investigate metering and billing practices.

"I've spent thousands of dollars on multiple plumbers to confirm that I don't have an active leak," said Taylor Bradshaw during the public-comment period, calling repeated billing spikes "a system wide problem" and asking the city to place the issue on a future agenda and launch meter testing, a billing audit and a clear dispute process.

Other residents offered similar accounts. David Grant said his bills shot up after a smart meter was installed and described readings that showed "400 gallons of water at midnight," which he said was a "physical impossibility." Jack Chambers said the city's bills appeared far higher than national averages and raised concerns about how utility fees are being spent, saying, "it suggests...there's some corruption or graft going on." The allegation was not substantiated in the meeting.

City Manager David Orr told the council the city is part of a regional effort to build a new Riverbend raw-water treatment plant, which he described as a roughly $490,000,000 engineer's estimate. Orr said agreements with participating cities were signed in 2020 and that the riverbed or treatment fee on water bills funds the long-planned facility. He also outlined the city's advanced metering project, saying the new meters will support an online portal (not yet active) to give near-real-time usage data and alerts to help customers detect leaks.

Orr said the $490 million figure is an engineering estimate and that design work is nearly complete; a construction bid had not been awarded. He encouraged residents to contact Texarkana Water Utilities for account reviews and said staff are tracking comments and will follow up. "We can get that information from Riverbend in terms of the bidding process," Orr said.

No formal action was taken at the meeting beyond council members noting constituent concerns and asking staff to check into accounts; the mayor said representatives from Texarkana Water Utilities were present and taking notes. Residents urged the council to pursue a more robust dispute process, temporary billing relief for households showing anomalous usage, and a meter-testing program.

The council asked staff to follow up with the utility and Riverbend and said it would check in on the matter at a later date.