SUMTER COUNTY, Fla. — Dozens of residents in the Villages are frustrated after they were billed for thousands of gallons of water, they say, they didn’t use.
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Now, several have reached out to Investigative Reporter Ashlyn Webb asking to get to the bottom of the problem. She went to the Villages and pressed officials for answers on what’s causing it.
Marian Drummond and Pete Trendler received a more than $600 bill in October. They were charged for 53,000 gallons of water. This is roughly 50 times what they used the month before, bills show.
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“You don’t want it on camera. What my reaction was because you wouldn’t be able to use it anyhow,” Trendler said, when asked what his reaction was when he received the bill.
The couple said they immediately called the Villages Community Development Districts when they received this “outrageously” high bill.
They say an employee told them it had to be a mistake and to pay what they normally pay. They were promised the issue would get fixed.
But, it didn’t. Instead, the hefty bill carried into the next month.
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They were told by a manager in the division they could have a leak, despite their bill returning to almost their average bill the following month.
“It just disappears. Like, where did it go? 53,000 [gallons] one month and then nothing. It’s impossible,” Drummond said.
Then, they were told they had to pay the bill in full.
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“We didn’t do that. So then we get a notice of intent to put a lien on our house,” Drummond said, showing the notice they received.
The district ended up not placing a lien on the couple’s home, but there’s still no answer on what caused the high bill.
They are far from being the only ones with the problem.
“I’d use 10,260 gallons between December 2nd and January 2nd,” said Linda Geist reading her bill.
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Geist says she wasn’t even home the month of December, but got a bill for about $150 more than what she’s typically charged.
She posted about it in a large Facebook group where dozens shared that they were dealing with the same issue and the department told them the same thing—that they might have a leak.
“There can’t be that many leaks around here,” she said, adding that her sister and brother-in-law were having the same problem.
9 Investigates emailed and called the utility division of the Villages, asking what could be causing the problem.
We even asked to speak to the Utility Director.
Instead, their director of legal operations met us in the lobby.
“Right now, we aren’t going to address it,” said Robyn Sambor.
“You’re not at all?,” asked Ashlyn Webb.
“Not right now on camera,” Sambor said.
“Okay, So this is the problem. People are getting charged hundreds of dollars, and then they’re paying it and then they’re paying for a plumber to come out,” Ashlyn Webb said, speaking about the hefty bill customers are having to pay because of the consistent issue.
“Totally get it,” Sambor said.
“So officially, no statement from the Villages,” Webb asked again.
“No statement,” Sambor said.
Sambor told Channel 9 the District may send us a written statement.
In the meantime, we’ll continue to press for answers.
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