Ballston Spa couple, business owner suspect meters for thousand dollars spike in bills

BALLSTON SPA N.Y. (NEWS10) -- A Ballston Spa couple and a local business owner tell NEWS10 their water bills have gone sky high, and they suspect it’s an issue with their water meters. Yet they are still being asked to pay the bills.

Dewey and Debbie Blair, of Ballston Spa, say their average six-month water bill runs between $90 and $110. But their most recent bill was a whopper at $2,262 for a huge amount of water: 669,000 gallons.

“If that kind of water was in here it would be flooded up to my knees," said Dewey Blair.

The Blairs say they even hired a plumber who found no evidence of leaks. They both suspect it's a problem with their water meter.

Jon Taisey, owner of the Medbery Inn & Spa in Ballston Spa says he is going through the same problem.

“They [the village] tried to tell me I used a million gallons of water instead of the normal 100,000 or something gallons of water. Instead of my bill being $300 and something, like it has been consistently for 20 years, it’s $3,300," said Taisey.

The village mayor, Christine Fitzpatrick, told NEWS10's Anya Tucker that her office is looking into it.

As for the situation with the Blairs', Fitzpatrick said a village official Bob Cavanaugh spotted the large amount of water usage and contacted the couple. She says that's when village employees had the couple’s 30-plus year old meter tested, and that they found it to be accurate.

Fitzpatrick sent the following statement to NEWS10:

"The Blairs had a large meter reading. We investigated it and certified that it was accurate and reading correctly, and we have thoroughly investigated the claim. At least five members of the Ballston Spa village staff had been involved in looking into this and making sure that we handled this properly.”

The meter was replaced at the Blairs' request, but they say not before another 200,000 gallons was mysteriously racked up on it.

Dewey and Debbie say their new meter appears to be working fine. Yet the village stood firm on that $2,262 bill.

“We pleaded with them to please take an average of our water reading and we would pay that and they said, no.”

Risking a 10 percent penalty, they decided to pay it.