By Melissa Blewitt

Lachlan Shire households are dealing with a serious case of bill shock, after water accounts landed in mailboxes.

Many residents their water bills skyrocket and have taken to social media to vent their frustration and concern.

Lachlan Shire Council says there, “has been no changes to pricing structures from the previous billing period” but admit meter reads were “carried out a month later than usual, at five months rather than four months of usage.”

With a longer than usual billing period, Lachlan Shire Council General Manager Ian Greenham advised that “Council normally allows 30 calendar days to pay bills from the date of issue.  In this instance we have extended the payments to 30 working days or six weeks to provide a little extra time” to finalise accounts.

The Condobolin Argus understands that residents can request another water meter reading, if they feel their water account is too high – this is done free of charge. However, if residents request a water meter check – this will attract a fee.

Ratepayers are struggling to understand the extent of the increase in water bills and are understandably asking questions.

“Really not good enough Lachlan shire! Maybe you should have notified rate payers that there was going to be a delay?” and “How does a house that’s empty 80 per cent of the time and runs off rain water get stung $250” were some of the comments on the Lachlan Shire – The Heart of NSW Facebook Page, after Lachlan Shire Council released a statement in response to water accounts increases.

Some residents were reporting an exponential increase to their water bills.

“Oh, come on! How can it be justified that we used over $700 worth of water in one month when most other bills for four months were between $100 to $300 dollars? How can we possibly use 1400 litres per day when our average is only 300 to 400 litres per day?”

“Doesn’t make sense, my empty house got a $477 water bill, and no one was living there, my other house got an almost $1200 for two people, when it’s usually $200. Something isn’t adding up.”

“Can Council please provide clarity on how my daily water usage has allegedly tripled? I now have one less person in my household, significantly less showering, washing, and dish use, and my previously green lawn is now dirt. For me, the concern is not the total cost of the bill, but how my daily consumption has increased so drastically despite these clear reductions in use, I’m struggling to understand how my consumption could have increased?”

Many are concerned about how they will pay the full amount by the due date and have been critical of the way the entire situation has been handled.

“It’s really not good enough in all honesty. How do you expect pensioners/low income earners or anyone really to pay these excessive bills because the shire were apparently too busy doing other stuff? They obviously didn’t care about their community paying an extra month of water because they were too busy supposedly focusing on repairs and thought stuff it, Condo community can wait an extra month for their Water bill. I live on my own, I do my clothes washing 1 day a week, I literally have 5–10-minute showers and I’m really only home from 6pm onwards as I work 2 Jobs, 7 days a week, and I barely water my lawn, Once a week or maybe even once a month. I got hit with a $1100 water bill; my last bill was $200.”

As to why Lachlan Shire Council did not communicate the water meter reading delay, Mr Greenham said “In hindsight we should have done more around communicating water saving tips during Summer as the biggest part of the bill shock was not the length of time between billing periods but the increase in average daily consumption over the hot and dry conditions experienced during Spring and Summer.”

Lachlan Shire Council released the following statement in response to the water accounts increase:

“Community members may have noticed an increase on the most recently issued water bills throughout Lachlan Shire. While there were no changes to pricing structures from the previous billing period, meter reads were carried out a month later than usual, at 5 months rather than 4 months of usage. This delay was due to internal Council resources focussing on repairs within the network. The aged water systems also required regular backwashing in response to extreme temperatures and increased water demand over the summer months. The next billing period will be shorter to bring the bill issue date back to the original schedule.

“Prior to bills being issued it is normal practice for large differences in water meter reads from one bill to the next to be reviewed. Where deemed necessary, staff are sent to carry out re-reads before bills issue. For suspected water leaks, Council will initially make contact to residents via letter.

“For genuine cases of hardship residents can contact Council’s rating department to arrange a payment plan. Residents can also check their own meter reading and daily usage to determine whether it is out of step with their bill details and can seek a review of their accounts at any time and in any billing period.

“For information on how to read your water meter, check for leaks, and steps if a water leak is identified, please visit https://www.lachlan.nsw.gov.au/…/Residents/Water-Billing or contact Council on 02 6895 1900.”

The next water billing cycle is expected in June.