Residents press Navasota council over sewer billing error, request audit and refunds

At the July 14 meeting of the Navasota City Council, residents urged the council to audit utility billing after household sewer charges spiked unexpectedly. Shannon Neal, a Carmelites neighborhood resident, said she and neighbors discovered the city had averaged November–January usage rather than the charter‑required December–February, producing months with increases “in excess of $60 or more per month.” She said the problem was first raised in April and only now is being credited.

"We discovered that instead of using the correct averaging months of December, January, and February, which is required by the city charter, the utility department was using November, December, and January instead," Neal said, asking the city to disclose how many residents were affected and the total amount overcharged. Kyle Ziolkowski, who collaborated with Neal, said that fixing the error saved him about $300 a year and urged council to direct staff to perform a system‑wide audit.

City staff acknowledged credits are being issued and said adjustments have begun, but several speakers and council members pressed for a transparent public accounting of the scope and formula used to calculate refunds. Council did not take final action beyond public acknowledgment, but multiple council members signaled they wanted staff to investigate the billing process, report the total number of affected accounts and provide a clear explanation of the correction method.