Newmarket tenant shocked by skyrocketing water bills for thousands of dollars

A Newmarket resident is “fuming” after receiving water bills for thousands of dollars for two months in a row. 

Debbie Wilson rents the house in which she lives with her husband and great-grandson, who they are raising, and other family members. She said they have been paying the utilities bill since moving in in August 2019. 

“All of a sudden last month we got the bill and it was like ‘what?!’” she said. 

In April, she received a bill with a residential water charge of $917.49 and a residential sewer charge of $1,081.44. With additional charges and electricity included, the total bill was $2,632.77. 

In May, the water charge was $737.59 and the sewer charge was $869.40. 

“I’ve rented all my life. I’m 66 years old, I’ve rented from when I was 18 up and I’ve never been through this,” Wilson said. “What’s going on?” 

In previous months she said her bill has been what she considers normal. Her bill for March 2021 shows the residential water charge was $40.67 and residential the sewer charge was $47.93.

She said when she contacted the utility company, she was told her the high bill could be because of a leak in the system. 

“They said there’s got to be a leak but I don’t hear a toilet running, I don’t hear anything,” she said. “I have a dishwasher, I don’t even use that. I don’t hear no taps leaking, nothing.” 

Newmarket-Tay Power Distribution Ltd. said it doesn’t comment on specific accounts, but said there are a number of reasons residents might experience higher water bills.

“One sort of reason for high bills can potentially be the time of year. Are you watering grass, are you filling up a pool or a hot tub? Like these sort of one-off things that can really sort of drive billing up in any given month, I would say is one thing to always be mindful of,” president and CEO Ysni Semsedini said. 

He also said leaks are another common cause, “so it can be very much either faucet, toilet or appliance driven and those are ones that sometimes people get hit with a higher bill that you may not be aware is happening, just because there’s something going on in their home.”

Semsedini said that if customers call the utility after receiving a high bill, agents will ask a few questions to figure out what could be causing it. Often they’ll advise residents to check their usage on their water metres before going to bed and then again when they wake up. 

“What that helps us identify is when most people are sleeping, if there is a leak you can see that come out during those times.” 

Wilson said she was advised to do this, too, adding she is a light sleeper and would notice something leaking. She was also told she would need a plumber to come in and look for a problem. 

The utility company arranged for a monthly payment plan, but she was told it can only go for three months before the remaining amount owed gets added to the property tax. 

Wilson said she collects old-age pension and only gets $1,030 a month and while her husband works, his pay covers the rent. She arranged to pay $300 per month for April, May and June. 

“Our goal is to work with customers where we can to try to establish those payment arrangements and establish some way for the customer to be able to pay what they can to pay that arrears amount,” Semsedini said. 

He said if they are unable to collect an account in 90 days, the amount owing goes to the town where it gets added to taxes, however, they try to avoid that happening. 

“If a customer is working with us, we won’t send that over to the town. If payments are being made, we will just keep managing that payment plan with the customer,” Semsedini said. 

He recommends budget billing for residents who wish to avoid surprises on their bills. 

This method looks at historical usage for the property to determine a flat rate to charge every month, which is adjusted once a year with their actual usage. 

“That’s a great way to keep consistent billing month to month so you’re not being shocked with these larger bills that may come out in that time of year,” Semsedini said. “Budget billing is a great way to sort of have a consistent spend throughout the year, as opposed to these peaks and valleys that naturally set up because of the seasonality of water and electricity usages.”

In the meantime, Wilson hopes she can figure out what’s going on with her water bill soon.