DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis Addresses High Water Bills

DECATUR, GA -- Recently reinstated DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis is moving at a furious pace to address residents' concerns about unusually high water bills before his term officially ends later this week.

Ellis released a letter to residents Wednesday explaining why many of their water bills have errors in them, why some residents have had their bills suspended, and how the county was going to fix the situation. He said that some customers will be back-billed, but others will not, depending on usage.

Most importantly, he identified the culprit of the unusually high water bills, attributing it to the county's switch from old to new technology.

"The inaccurate data stems from our transition from outdated meters to newer technology. In many instances, the data which was supposed to identify newer technology meters was lost, causing the billing software to 'misread' information from the traditional meter," Ellis said in a letter to residents, which was obtained by Patch.

Water bill relief is a subject of contention in the county as many residents have wrote complaints to local media and even disrupted public meetings with government officials over the issue.

Incoming chief executive officer Michael Thurmond even told WXIA-TV that his family earlier this year incurred a $1,000 water bill, which his wife fought to resolve.

Ellis also addressed customers who have not been billed due to errors in the system.

“The bills of those customers whose statements were withheld, or accounts that have been otherwise identified as containing questionable information, will be released to these customers beginning Friday, Dec. 30. These bills will include an estimate based upon the average usage over the past 12 billing cycles (discarding the highest and lowest statements in this period)," Ellis said in his letter.

Ellis, who will address the media on Thursday afternoon, is due to hand over the reins of DeKalb County government to Thurmond on Dec 31. Thurmond has said that he will make water bills a top priority as CEO.

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