FLEETWOOD 鈥� James Nicholson鈥檚 jaw dropped when he opened his Fleetwood condo鈥檚 water bill this year.
It was a whopping $14,000.
鈥淚t was just shocking to me.鈥�
The number seemed extremely high, so he ventured down to the building鈥檚 basement to find out their actual water usage.
Nicholson discovered his 57-unit Vernazza condo鈥檚 actual running grand total on the metre was 76,175 cubic metres. That was in late April.
The bill issued by the City of Surrey in February was for 79,086.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 2.9 million litres of water they were off,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not talking a small percentage.鈥�
It turns out they were overcharged more than $4,500 and the city has since corrected the error.
An April 21 email from the city says the bill was adjusted 鈥渁s per the reread,鈥� which Nicholson said is in reference to the picture he took of their meter.
鈥淲e had to do our own investigation to discover this area,鈥� he noted. 鈥淥f concern is that they did not send anyone to our residence to read the meter and verify the readings when we raised our concerns. They ended up coming in late June or early July to read it for our most recent bill.鈥�
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But here鈥檚 the kicker 鈥� the strata paid the inflated bill one day late and were on the hook for a fine of nearly $460 on the correct amount as a result.
鈥淲e had to take out a loan to pay the $14,000 water bill,鈥� Nicholson told the Now-Leader Thursday morning. 鈥淲e just couldn鈥檛 afford that. If it was the proper amount to begin with we would鈥檝e been able to pay that bill.
鈥淐harging us a penalty because we didn鈥檛 pay their inaccurate amount?鈥� he questioned. 鈥淎nd we paid the inaccurate only one day late.鈥�
Nicholson said the strata called city hall repeatedly asking for the penalty to be waived, and were shot down every time.
鈥淭hey say, 鈥楴othing we can do, nothing we can do. We almost never refund any penalties.鈥欌��
After the Now-Leader inquired to the city about the penalty, it was revealed they had just decided to waive it.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been escalated to our management just as of yesterday,鈥� Kam Grewal, Surrey鈥檚 manager of finance, told the Now-Leader Thursday afternoon. 鈥淚t just came to my attention in the last couple of hours.鈥�
The city will be 鈥渞eversing the penalty,鈥� he assured.
Grewal said the original meter error was made by a former contractor.
鈥淚 know there were some issues with the former contractor,鈥� he noted.
Typically, the city will refer to the meters instead of estimating, said Grewal, but explained there are exceptions.
鈥淪ometimes we will estimate if the weather鈥檚 bad or the contractor cannot read the meter,鈥� he said. 鈥淯sually they are checked, as long as they鈥檙e accessible and visible and weather permitting.鈥�
The decision to reverse the late charge was welcome news to Nicholson.
But Nicholson wonders if other buildings are being billed in the same way and urges everyone to 鈥渃heck their meters themselves and compare it to their bill.鈥�
鈥淗ow many other condos are just paying and not looking at their reading?鈥�
He added: 鈥淚t would鈥檝e been great to just get an apology,鈥� for the 鈥済rossly inaccurate bill.鈥�
