The laws of physics simply do not allow these bills to be legitimate. This is like a cop ticketing an automobile driver for driving 2,000MPH and a DA or judge letting that stand. Reality simply doesn’t allow for a car to go that fast or for these people to have used that much water.
That’s actually an amazing point. It could also be proven by simply running a hose wide open for an hour and calculating the flow rate for 24 hours, then multiply that by X days. Or divide the billed amount by the total of the 24 hours result.
I think they are just incompetent, very poorly trained or dumb as rocks. That level of corruption would be way too obvious. My head would explode talking to them.
Worked for small water system for 30+ years. A town of about 3500 meters. We had electronic water meters and were read quarterly. If there was an abnormally high reading based on past usage, we would be sent back and reread the meter both electronically as well as manually by eye. As well as noticing the leak indicator arrow on the meter for movement. If both readings were the same, and still high, and the homeowner paid a small fee, we would take the meter out to be tested. Run a certified amount of water through the meter, 3 tests of 50 gallons each, and compare the meter reading against the amount of water through the meter during testing. Testing was witnessed by the property owner, members of the utility committee and the utilities clerk. If the meter tested accurately, the water bill stood. If the meter failed the test, the meter was replaced or the electronics were replaced based on what failed, and the water bill was adjusted, and the testing fee was returned. Or if the homeowner had a legitimate leak, attested to by a licensed plumber, the water bill would also be adjusted.
Yea my water company is pretty good. But this board need to be replaced because they certainly have no common sense. To adjust the bill would not be taking away from the city since the water was never used to begin with. Hopefully this will be taken care of.
This is what people who follow the law and respect their tax payers are supposed to do but not watershed. We now know exactly what they've been doing and everybody that they've ever bullied with this scam should be reimbursed after my story is heard.
After watching a previous video on the empty lot case, it appeared to me that the board is making decisions on the basis that the customer has to prove beyond reasonable doubt (or perhaps beyond any doubt) that the bill is wrong, rather than on balance of probability or preponderance of the evidence. The suggestion from the board in that case that the water could have been loaded onto tankers and driven away seemed to fit that mindset. The female board member's question about extenuating circumstances may have further derailed the process, if, as I suspect, what she was really asking was whether the board could take into account the bill's inherent implausibility.
I’m pretty sure the pipes in place simply cannot move that much water in that amount of time at all, so even if he or someone else did have a fleet of tanker trucks they still can’t collect that much water.
I did a rough calculation giving plausible flow rates someone quoted in the comments under a previous video and came to the conclusion that you would have to have a truck parked there filling up around the clock every single day to even hope to remove that much water. Not only would the neighbors have complained, but the cost of the trucks and drivers would have made the whole caper unprophitable. The fact that the board members do not understand this suggests a lack of math literacy on their part.
What do these board members think their job is? Because it's definitely not to rubber stamp whatever the city tells them to do, although they seem to be thinking it is. The entire board and city administration need to be criminally investigated.
I have run into this problem more times than I like. The problem is that none of these people know what the code is but use it to punish others. I have seen code enforcement officers write code enfractions but they don't tell you which code was broken. If asked they just say you have to find it in the code book. They don't know what if anything that was broken but just want to get money from you. If they can't put the code violation down then they shouldn't be able to collect a cent. Get these lazy idiots out of their positions.
wouldn't it make more sense to have master plumbers and former city line workers because they have a better idea of how the system works, these people don't seem to understand plumbing
Well yes but that would make far too much sense when it comes to bureaucracy and government, remember during Covid when the politician were trying to tell citizens that they knew better than the DOCTORS ? Same situation
investigate finances of everyone involved and figure out where these phantom fees are really coming from, sounds like embezzlement with these huge fees covering for it.
The meters are defective - simple - it's not rocket mechanics. Many years ago I had a defective meter that I bypassed and returned the pieces in a basket. They never replaced it and I always get a minimum bill.
Given how hard they're fighting this, I suspect the meters are not only defective. But that they were purchased via some backroom deal involving kickbacks, resulting in inferior (defective) meters being supplied (a company which pays kickbacks has to make back that money somehow). And to hide that corruption, they're trying desperately to avoid any legal admission that the quality of the meters is substandard. Someone should try installing a second meter onto a dozen homes with newer meters, to test how accurate the city meters are.
Wouldn't miss a moment of sleep if you told me every single appeals board member was going to be sent to jail. There is no way you vote that way and have a shred of humanity inside you. "Upholding the code" or not these are terrible individuals.
WHAT! A training issue. Hell no this is a common sense issue 🤨 you can't train that are you kidding me. I call this robbery 🤬 I would not pay that bill 😁
🎯My story will prove it's straight up robbery and they shouldn't even be able to do business in Atlanta after this and everybody who ever paid them should be reimbursed. They've finally been caught red handed.
I-Team : keep the pressure up until the water board is forced to resign. Ideally, you can find something something to send them to jail but it is more likely they will resign when see the investigation closing in on them.
The people on the board are clueless. The one board member said this must be theft. How is someone tapping into a water meter that is not connected to the house and stealing a million gallons of water? They need a plumber or two on this board, someone who understands how things work. They can't seem to wrap their heads around the broken water meter. The board is appointed. By who?
Yeah it’s so lucrative to screw a handful of people every year 😂 I’m guessing you don’t believe we landed on the moon or that earth is actually round too?
Board Member: Is there anything in our current code that would allow for extenuating circumstances or adjustments? Lawyer: You are bound by the code The Question: ???
Whatever happened to common sense? No one could possibly use the amount of water cited in those cases. Why can't HOAs and City Councilmen, etc. act like normal people? How would they feel if they were hit with a bill that high? Obviously there are other factors at play here, and they just don't choose to look into them. The way that the ordinary man or woman gets treated these days is ridiculous. I pray that someone will open their eyes and see the truth. Normal citizens don't have a chance...
2:31 - I wonder what was going through that guy's head, what thought processes were occurring, when he decided that there was no basis for cancelling a water bill for an empty patch of ground with no water supply.
'm from N. Alabama and we were just talking about Atlanta and my point in the conversation was about how polar the cultures are between N. Alabama and Atlanta. completely different places, cultures, personalities. this is ridiculous. if you have any disapproval or issue with the water bill here, everyone is honest. you have legitimate dispute about the bill and the city will likely be very understanding and refund the money or credit the account. i've been in N. Alabama my whole life and we will never understand how they do things in Atlanta.
I wouldn't be shocked if it comes out that someone is stealing the money. All that money doesn't just disappear. These are public employees that cannot be contacted and will not answer any questions.
Prime example of NEVER EVER trust government. You can bet if that water bill was someone on the board or member of council. The bill balance would be ZERO, or swepted under the carpet. Corruption shows not bounds. Legal needs some inservice on current codes. Country living does have some benefits.
What ??? If I’m understanding correctly… No water hook up at all ?? And no one sees a problem with that !?? The water bill stands ???? Make that make sense!!
This happened to me with my electric bill. I wasn’t living in my home, all electricity was turned off at the electric box. Somehow my electric bill was $688.00. They refused to address the issue and demanded payment. I paid a nice portion of the bill but the still turned my service off. They demanded full payment.
Corruption and Incompetence. Those are the explainations they need to uncover. The City Attorney seems also incompetent, his eyes almost rolled backwards when looking for an explanation of to which code the board must adhere to.
I would go to one of those board members houses and set their outside tap to run for days they would never notice and BAM how's your water bill and yes you have to pay it!
So the board members are doing a job that they, themselves, as board members, have no understanding of policy that they might or might not implement…that’s outstanding.
Thank you for continuing this story!! I had a problem with my water meter in a previous apartment, and kept complaining until they stopped giving me my bill. (It was the apartment complex’s fault, not city or state.) Their lawyer’s made up BS as well because they’re too dumb to understand the problem.
Water departments are notoriously crooked everywhere. I remember hearing about one that had ordered more water meters then there were buildings in the town. They discovered they were ordering tens of thousands of water meters and taking them straight to the scrapyard. I had a bad experience with a different water department when they started billing me for water when I didn’t have town water. They billed me estimated usage but I didn’t have water service! Then they told me I had to buy their town water even though I had a well! Do yourself a favor and move to unincorporated territory. It’s bad enough having to deal with the federal, state and, county governments! A town or city is just another way to further drain your pockets!
That is why they billed for all the water. They were losing water from a leak in their system and instead of writing off the loss they just billed a user. There was a statement from someone at the water company saying that it was caused by a leaking pipe in the distribution system not the guy with an empty lot. The board said the statement did not matter.
Doesn't the state of Georgia's legal code have a public records request doctrine which reflects the FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) federal law, as most if not all other states do have? It shouldn't be difficult to acquire their PII, since they are public employees of the government.
Sue the city and EACH AND EVERYONE OF THE BOARD MEMBERS IN THEIR PERSONAL AND OFFICIAL CAPACITY AND WATCH EVERYTHING GET FIXED RIGHT AWAY…. And the lawyer should be fired immediately cause I fought he passed the bar let alone graduated from a real law school… Matter of fact based off his legal advice he should be forced to pay more than them…
There should be an investigation of the data from meter to printed bill. Is there funny business and physical manipulation of data? If its the meter, then stop using them.
Sounds like they have a meter problem. As we know in cases like this, it could be a friend or relative of the appeal board or water department that got the contract on supplying meters. It’s all very suspect. Please keep on top of it.
you know, water meters work using magnets. if the line isnt connected to a house, who knows what kind of magnetic forces they are being subjected to that they were never designed for. this is 10x more true with newer wireless meters. wiresless meters use electromagnetic radiation to broadcast wireless signals. it seems kind of dumb for them they use magnets to measure water usage when they are also using so many electronics in their meters. people have been getting billed for larger amounts of water every since they switched to these newer meters.
If you end up with anything on your credit score and you have proof of illegitimate bills, you may sue using the fair reporting act of 1974.
*Fair Credit Billing Act of 1974
The laws of physics simply do not allow these bills to be legitimate. This is like a cop ticketing an automobile driver for driving 2,000MPH and a DA or judge letting that stand. Reality simply doesn’t allow for a car to go that fast or for these people to have used that much water.
That’s actually an amazing point. It could also be proven by simply running a hose wide open for an hour and calculating the flow rate for 24 hours, then multiply that by X days. Or divide the billed amount by the total of the 24 hours result.
Very good example.
That Water board is corrupt AF!!!
I think they are just incompetent, very poorly trained or dumb as rocks. That level of corruption would be way too obvious. My head would explode talking to them.
@@leolo2222all of the above.
What agency in Atlanta isn't?
?
My guess is, that money has already been embezzled and spent.
And nothing will change. This is too funny. 😂😂😂
Worked for small water system for 30+ years. A town of about 3500 meters. We had electronic water meters and were read quarterly. If there was an abnormally high reading based on past usage, we would be sent back and reread the meter both electronically as well as manually by eye. As well as noticing the leak indicator arrow on the meter for movement. If both readings were the same, and still high, and the homeowner paid a small fee, we would take the meter out to be tested. Run a certified amount of water through the meter, 3 tests of 50 gallons each, and compare the meter reading against the amount of water through the meter during testing. Testing was witnessed by the property owner, members of the utility committee and the utilities clerk. If the meter tested accurately, the water bill stood. If the meter failed the test, the meter was replaced or the electronics were replaced based on what failed, and the water bill was adjusted, and the testing fee was returned. Or if the homeowner had a legitimate leak, attested to by a licensed plumber, the water bill would also be adjusted.
Yea my water company is pretty good. But this board need to be replaced because they certainly have no common sense. To adjust the bill would not be taking away from the city since the water was never used to begin with. Hopefully this will be taken care of.
This is what people who follow the law and respect their tax payers are supposed to do but not watershed. We now know exactly what they've been doing and everybody that they've ever bullied with this scam should be reimbursed after my story is heard.
After watching a previous video on the empty lot case, it appeared to me that the board is making decisions on the basis that the customer has to prove beyond reasonable doubt (or perhaps beyond any doubt) that the bill is wrong, rather than on balance of probability or preponderance of the evidence. The suggestion from the board in that case that the water could have been loaded onto tankers and driven away seemed to fit that mindset.
The female board member's question about extenuating circumstances may have further derailed the process, if, as I suspect, what she was really asking was whether the board could take into account the bill's inherent implausibility.
I’m pretty sure the pipes in place simply cannot move that much water in that amount of time at all, so even if he or someone else did have a fleet of tanker trucks they still can’t collect that much water.
@@clintmatthews3500this is a great point. Likely a 1" line is all that a residence would have.
I did a rough calculation giving plausible flow rates someone quoted in the comments under a previous video and came to the conclusion that you would have to have a truck parked there filling up around the clock every single day to even hope to remove that much water. Not only would the neighbors have complained, but the cost of the trucks and drivers would have made the whole caper unprophitable. The fact that the board members do not understand this suggests a lack of math literacy on their part.
What do these board members think their job is? Because it's definitely not to rubber stamp whatever the city tells them to do, although they seem to be thinking it is. The entire board and city administration need to be criminally investigated.
So. Obviously, an investigation needs to be conducted.
People don't resist this hard unless there's money sitting in their closet.
I have run into this problem more times than I like. The problem is that none of these people know what the code is but use it to punish others. I have seen code enforcement officers write code enfractions but they don't tell you which code was broken. If asked they just say you have to find it in the code book. They don't know what if anything that was broken but just want to get money from you. If they can't put the code violation down then they shouldn't be able to collect a cent. Get these lazy idiots out of their positions.
wouldn't it make more sense to have master plumbers and former city line workers because they have a better idea of how the system works, these people don't seem to understand plumbing
You don't need a degree to understand that the system isn't hooked up or you are using 100x more water than usual.
Well yes but that would make far too much sense when it comes to bureaucracy and government, remember during Covid when the politician were trying to tell citizens that they knew better than the DOCTORS ? Same situation
If you got denied get in contact with the State Attorney General Office and put in a complaint.
investigate finances of everyone involved and figure out where these phantom fees are really coming from, sounds like embezzlement with these huge fees covering for it.
That’s exactly what I was thinking. Somebody is embezzling money and using these “added fees” to cover it up.
Kickbacks on kickbacks on kickbacks!!!!
And the City of Atlanta wonders why people don’t want to actually live within city limits.
Replace that board.
I agree but keep investigating because there is probably corruption also and unless they punish this will all happen again.
That won’t change anything. 😂😂😂
If ATL doesn’t fire their crappy city attorney, he will be voted into a worse judge or another corrupt GA da position
$29,000+ water bill? For an empty lot? How is a civil suit NOT your first action after a denial of reduction?
The meters are defective - simple - it's not rocket mechanics. Many years ago I had a defective meter that I bypassed and returned the pieces in a basket. They never replaced it and I always get a minimum bill.
Given how hard they're fighting this, I suspect the meters are not only defective. But that they were purchased via some backroom deal involving kickbacks, resulting in inferior (defective) meters being supplied (a company which pays kickbacks has to make back that money somehow). And to hide that corruption, they're trying desperately to avoid any legal admission that the quality of the meters is substandard. Someone should try installing a second meter onto a dozen homes with newer meters, to test how accurate the city meters are.
Wouldn't miss a moment of sleep if you told me every single appeals board member was going to be sent to jail. There is no way you vote that way and have a shred of humanity inside you. "Upholding the code" or not these are terrible individuals.
you mean the code which doesn't exist as described by the board of incompetent bureaucrats you can't reach?
They are getting some sort of incentive rule against users no mater what the facts are. The question what is the incentive and who is giving it.
WHAT! A training issue. Hell no this is a common sense issue 🤨 you can't train that are you kidding me. I call this robbery 🤬 I would not pay that bill 😁
🎯My story will prove it's straight up robbery and they shouldn't even be able to do business in Atlanta after this and everybody who ever paid them should be reimbursed. They've finally been caught red handed.
I-Team : keep the pressure up until the water board is forced to resign. Ideally, you can find something something to send them to jail but it is more likely they will resign when see the investigation closing in on them.
The people on the board are clueless. The one board member said this must be theft. How is someone tapping into a water meter that is not connected to the house and stealing a million gallons of water? They need a plumber or two on this board, someone who understands how things work. They can't seem to wrap their heads around the broken water meter. The board is appointed. By who?
Golf course across the street... new meter.... sloppy data entry puts golf course use on wrong account.
So… why doesn’t the city council replace all members??
They might not be able to replace the members.
They look as incompetent as they sound!
My opinion is that they are receiving cash bribes
Yeah it’s so lucrative to screw a handful of people every year 😂
I’m guessing you don’t believe we landed on the moon or that earth is actually round too?
So how do we as a community have these members of the committee removed?
How do Atlanta citizens get these board members removed?
pretty sure they get voted in .
Board Member: Is there anything in our current code that would allow for extenuating circumstances or adjustments?
Lawyer: You are bound by the code
The Question: ???
Whatever happened to common sense? No one could possibly use the amount of water cited in those cases. Why can't HOAs and City Councilmen, etc. act like normal people? How would they feel if they were hit with a bill that high? Obviously there are other factors at play here, and they just don't choose to look into them. The way that the ordinary man or woman gets treated these days is ridiculous. I pray that someone will open their eyes and see the truth. Normal citizens don't have a chance...
2:31 - I wonder what was going through that guy's head, what thought processes were occurring, when he decided that there was no basis for cancelling a water bill for an empty patch of ground with no water supply.
Take them to the court.
'm from N. Alabama and we were just talking about Atlanta and my point in the conversation was about how polar the cultures are between N. Alabama and Atlanta. completely different places, cultures, personalities.
this is ridiculous. if you have any disapproval or issue with the water bill here, everyone is honest. you have legitimate dispute about the bill and the city will likely be very understanding and refund the money or credit the account.
i've been in N. Alabama my whole life and we will never understand how they do things in Atlanta.
'Does the city code allow the appeals board to adjust appealed water bills?' "...no" WHAT!?
STILL??? ITS STILL HAPPENING??? vote republican this is beyond dumb
I wouldn't be shocked if it comes out that someone is stealing the money. All that money doesn't just disappear. These are public employees that cannot be contacted and will not answer any questions.
how long would it take to haul that much water away in trucks with the size pipe leading up to that meter
Someone wrote like 8 hours per day 5 days a week.
Atlanta should just change its name to Corruption.
They seriously need to have a forensic accountant go through the board members' personal finances. Bet they'll find out why these bills are so high.
Im from florida and im following this closely, please keep us up dated on this massive corruption.
this is absurd and not what government is meant to do. it's so beyond reason that anyone who hinders common sense to this degree is not fit to serve.
Prime example of NEVER EVER trust government. You can bet if that water bill was someone on the board or member of council. The bill balance would be ZERO, or swepted under the carpet. Corruption shows not bounds. Legal needs some inservice on current codes. Country living does have some benefits.
Sue the board members. Bring it to Court and if the judge says yes, the board will have to go to court wether they like it or not.
What ??? If I’m understanding correctly… No water hook up at all ?? And no one sees a problem with that !?? The water bill stands ???? Make that make sense!!
This happened to me with my electric bill. I wasn’t living in my home, all electricity was turned off at the electric box. Somehow my electric bill was $688.00. They refused to address the issue and demanded payment. I paid a nice portion of the bill but the still turned my service off. They demanded full payment.
Corruption and Incompetence. Those are the explainations they need to uncover. The City Attorney seems also incompetent, his eyes almost rolled backwards when looking for an explanation of to which code the board must adhere to.
Wow! This is serious racketeering and organized crime! By "protocol." Which means BY DESIGN!!!!
Very Kafkaesque level of bureaucracy. From an ethical standpoint, these people are questionable at best.
I would go to one of those board members houses and set their outside tap to run for days they would never notice and BAM how's your water bill and yes you have to pay it!
Did the man with faulty meter go to court in March. Is there an up date.
Corruption straight up
THE SAME THING HERE IN KY AND NOTHING EVER GET DONE.😤
FOX 5 ATLANTA 🤠 Oh my Lord if I live in Atlanta and pay water per drip 👹 I will Get the HELL Out of there in a minute 🥊🎯 What the hell ‼️
Im in North Carolina and having the same problem
Wow, when big companies shows faces they're just as cold as the building it stands for...
Sue the hell out of them
So the board members are doing a job that they, themselves, as board members, have no understanding of policy that they might or might not implement…that’s outstanding.
Thank you for continuing this story!! I had a problem with my water meter in a previous apartment, and kept complaining until they stopped giving me my bill. (It was the apartment complex’s fault, not city or state.) Their lawyer’s made up BS as well because they’re too dumb to understand the problem.
Now repeat after me. If somebody says, “The government wouldn’t do that.”. Say, “Yes they would.”.
Water departments are notoriously crooked everywhere. I remember hearing about one that had ordered more water meters then there were buildings in the town. They discovered they were ordering tens of thousands of water meters and taking them straight to the scrapyard. I had a bad experience with a different water department when they started billing me for water when I didn’t have town water. They billed me estimated usage but I didn’t have water service! Then they told me I had to buy their town water even though I had a well! Do yourself a favor and move to unincorporated territory. It’s bad enough having to deal with the federal, state and, county governments! A town or city is just another way to further drain your pockets!
The fact these two lawyers are wearing masks explains all I need to know.
Aren't there neighborhood or branch meters that measure entire areas of water use for auditing issues like these?
That is why they billed for all the water. They were losing water from a leak in their system and instead of writing off the loss they just billed a user. There was a statement from someone at the water company saying that it was caused by a leaking pipe in the distribution system not the guy with an empty lot. The board said the statement did not matter.
Doesn't the state of Georgia's legal code have a public records request doctrine which reflects the FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) federal law, as most if not all other states do have? It shouldn't be difficult to acquire their PII, since they are public employees of the government.
Doesn't this fall under FOIA?
to find out their process & procedure?
>>Who appoints those seats on the water appeals board?
The screams corruption.
Not on this planet 😂
Why does it have to be corruption and not just morons doing a job they aren’t qualified to do?
Sue the city and EACH AND EVERYONE OF THE BOARD MEMBERS IN THEIR PERSONAL AND OFFICIAL CAPACITY AND WATCH EVERYTHING GET FIXED RIGHT AWAY…. And the lawyer should be fired immediately cause I fought he passed the bar let alone graduated from a real law school… Matter of fact based off his legal advice he should be forced to pay more than them…
How does this happen ..this is crazy
Someone on the inside has been stealing water and blaming users.
When you fear integrity and accountability, you are NOT the good guys!
So they're suppose to be an independent board yet the city attorney responds to interview requests for a board member...that's not very independent
Time to sue!!
Has anyone on the board had their bills adjusted? Open records act will tell you.
You can get the emails and phone numbers if you just go to the town website. At least that's how it is in Connecticut...
Houston Texas is having the same issues. Both those cities are corrupt. 58,000 dollars worth of water in month.
I’m in the uk but I’m invested in this story
It's called conspiracy to extort and should be treated as such.
So out of curiosity does that lawyer get paid more when he’s in court? If so is he playing this way to pad his pockets more?
How much is this board getting in kickbacks?!?!?!
File criminal charges. Theft.
The meters are faulty.
Sounds like somebody stealing money how to hell you gonna have a water bill with no meter and no damn house. Call the attorney general.
So much for the concept of “public servant”.
sounds like a fast track to a LOT of lawsuits
And they are doing this kind of thing to random homeowners? Holy crap get us that footage.
Yet another reason I live in the country with my own well and sewer.
Its not a training issue, its a corruption issue.
Corruption at its finest.
There should be an investigation of the data from meter to printed bill. Is there funny business and physical manipulation of data? If its the meter, then stop using them.
clearly it is "give us money, THEN maybe we will really think about it but don't count your eggs"
Sounds like they have a meter problem. As we know in cases like this, it could be a friend or relative of the appeal board or water department that got the contract on supplying meters. It’s all very suspect. Please keep on top of it.
I have no water bill. I collect water off of my roof for free.
welcome to city government. it is a joke no matter what city or state, trust me from experience!
I’m so glad I didn’t move to Georgia and have no reason to go back.
I would hope the empty lot would sue as well because 30k is worth going to court over.
The voters of Atlanta need to throw out their city council at the next election.
Send all the appeals board members 30k water bills.
Both the legal counsel & board are corrupt, in my opinion. Ignore evidence and quoting a NON-EXISTENT STATUE are reprehensible!
Those kind of charges are fraud. Turn it over to policing authorities
you know, water meters work using magnets. if the line isnt connected to a house, who knows what kind of magnetic forces they are being subjected to that they were never designed for. this is 10x more true with newer wireless meters. wiresless meters use electromagnetic radiation to broadcast wireless signals. it seems kind of dumb for them they use magnets to measure water usage when they are also using so many electronics in their meters. people have been getting billed for larger amounts of water every since they switched to these newer meters.
Sounds like it's another cricket board meeting
Very ❤😊
I smell corruption....
Does any board member , besides the two who spoke out, have any common sense?