MASON, Mich (WLNS) – The Sycamore Village mobile home park in Mason is facing criticism from people who live in the community after they said their recent water bills have nearly doubled.
This includes resident Chris Crepeau who has lived in the neighborhood for the last five or six years and he said he’s typically used to paying around $60, but that’s not the case as of recently.
“The last bill was $211.37,” he said. “I’ve gotten in touch with about ten people who have had triple their water bills.”
Another resident Cathy Brunton has lived in the community for the last eight years and said it seems to be a community wide issue.
“My water bill is normally $40-45 and this month it was $125,” she said. “I noticed a lot of people in the last few months have been complaining.”
While they said their regular rates look the same, their ‘ready-to-serve’ fee looks to be increasing. They add it’s hard to believe because they’ve had no change with their water-usage.
“It’s actually been less if anything, we’ve been out of town for nine days.” Crepeau said. “But with the price of groceries, and the price of car insurance, and this water bill, and the rent…it’s insane.”
According to the City of Mason, due to some of their large projects starting like the Water Treatment Plant and Wastewater Treatment Plant, they had to implement the ‘Ready-to-Serve’ fee back in July to guarantee revenue to make future bond payments for these projects.
Meanwhile, Brunton said she’s not sure who is responsible but added that she just wanted it solved.
In a statement to 6 News, the City of Mason said it has brought concerns directly to Sycamore Village management as their bills are their responsibility. They said they’re reviewing the issue as well.
“The City has been made aware of concerns regarding utility rates at Sycamore Village. Sycamore Village is billed as a customer instead of directly billing users,” the statement reads. “The City has reviewed sample bills provided by users and while the commodity rates appear to be in line with the City, the charges for Ready to Serve do seem to be significantly higher than users outside of that location. Sycamore Village is responsible for that billing and determining the amount they view as essential to provide that service. Any concerns regarding increases should be directed to Sycamore Village.”
6 News made a visit to the office at Sycamore Village where the receptionist referred all questions to their manager. 6 News has not heard back directly from them yet.
