{"id":3159,"date":"2026-07-07T10:03:41","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T10:03:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=3159"},"modified":"2026-07-07T10:03:41","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T10:03:41","slug":"brutal-bill-phoenix-homeowner-blames-city-for-2777-water-tab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=3159","title":{"rendered":"Brutal bill: Phoenix homeowner blames city for $2,777 water tab"},"content":{"rendered":"
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PHOENIX (AZFamily)<\/b> \u2014 A Phoenix homeowner says he was hit with a nearly $3,000 water bill after a city-owned transmitter failed to report his water usage for seven months and he believes the city should be held responsible. <\/p>\n

Read more Suspect on the run after deadly shooting at midtown Phoenix apartment complex<\/a><\/p>\n

Cameron Green said he opened his water bill last month to find a charge he thought couldn\u2019t be real. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think my stomach got sick. I\u2019m thinking this can\u2019t be real. There\u2019s no way,\u201d Green said.<\/p>\n

Bill reflected 344,000 gallons over 7 months<\/h2>\n

The bill totaled $2,777 and reflected 344,000 gallons of water that the city said Green and his wife used over a seven-month period. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe number they gave us is 344,000 gallons of water that we used over a seven-month period of time. We don\u2019t have a pool, we don\u2019t have a jacuzzi. We only have one bathroom and bathtub that we rarely use,\u201d Green said.<\/p>\n

City cites transmitter failure<\/h2>\n

Green said he contacted the city of Phoenix for an explanation. City officials told him a transmitter \u2014 used to report monthly water consumption \u2014 had not been functioning, leaving the city unable to bill him during that period. <\/p>\n

Once the device was repaired, Green was back-billed for the full seven months. Green said the city did not acknowledge responsibility for the equipment failure. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhere my problem is \u2014 they did not take responsibility for the broken transmitter which connected the bill, which prevented us from having information to solve the problem sooner, and they take no responsibility and make no adjustments for it,\u201d Green said.<\/p>\n

Underground leak compounded the problem<\/h2>\n

Green said an underground leak in front of his home \u2014 not visible from the surface \u2014 contributed to the high water usage. He said if the city\u2019s transmitter had been working, he could have identified and repaired the leak sooner, preventing the loss of hundreds of thousands of gallons of water and reducing the bill significantly.<\/p>\n

Green posted about his experience on the social media platform Nextdoor and said he received a flood of responses from other users who reported similar sudden spikes in their water bills.<\/p>\n

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City of Phoenix responds<\/h2>\n

Arizona\u2019s Family reached out to the city of Phoenix Water Services Department, which provided the following statement:<\/p>\n

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Intermittent failures with ERTs are unusual (under 1%), but can occur near the end of the lifespan.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMonthly reads indicating zero consumption are routinely checked… but zero consumption doesn\u2019t always mean zero water use.<\/p>\n