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Taos residents press council over sudden, unexplained water-bill spikes; mayor pledges follow-up
Summary
Residents described bills hundreds of dollars higher than expected and alleged meter or billing-tier errors; the mayor and staff said IT and finance teams are investigating and promised a response within a week.
Several Taos residents urged the town council on May 12 to resolve what they described as steep, confusing increases in water bills tied to recent meter and billing-system changes. At the citizens forum, a man identified by the mayor as Moe said his account shows a bill roughly $756 higher than he expects and described meter readings and tier thresholds that appear inconsistent with the town’s published rate schedule.
"My last bill . . . is $756 more than it should be as far as I can tell," Moe said, citing the town’s published base rate and tiered usage charges and saying the new meters appear to read in millions of gallons. He asked the council to arrange a meeting with staff who can recalculate his charge.
Council Member David Fernandez, who said his family received a single-month bill for just over $300 after historically paying $50–$70, echoed the request for a formal review. "We're not assigning any blame to anybody in particular," Fernandez said. "We want to meet and get to the bottom of this situation."
Mayor Barone said the town has inherited an imperfect billing system and that staff and IT are working on multiple glitches. "We've assigned two or three other people from different staff to look at this so we can get it cleared up," the mayor said, adding that staff expect to respond to concerned residents within a week.
Assistant Manager Andrew Martinez told the council a policy and procedure manual is ready and will be brought to the next council meeting to create internal controls before any billing adjustments are made. "We do not want to start the adjustment process until we have internal controls in place because otherwise the auditor may look at that next year," Martinez said.
Town staff and the mayor told speakers they are working to identify meter problems, correct billing-cycle discrepancies and give frontline cashiers the authority to address evident errors. Council members encouraged affected residents to accept a short-term, good-faith payment to avoid shutoff while the town reconciles accounts.
The council did not take formal action during public comment; staff committed to follow up with callers and return findings to the council at a future meeting.
