HOUSTON — Houston Mayor John Whitmire said he will reveal a new plan for customers to fight high water bills later this week or next week.
KHOU 11 has been sharing stories about customers with outrageously high bills for months. KHOU 11's Grace White found that 3,000 Houston Public Works customers had their bills estimated for a year straight. Some had gone on for even longer.
During an interview session after Wednesday's City Council meeting, Whitmire said he's putting an end to that practice.
He's keeping the details of the plan under wraps until it's rolled out. He said he intended for the new plan to be launched last month, but it was delayed to get the details right.
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"I want it to be comprehensive. I want to fully be able to assure folks that a lot of thought and empathy went into it. So, y'all know probably even better than I, I inherited a lot of messes," he said.
The estimated bill practice was implemented due to aging infrastructure and staffing shortages.
Whitmire's plan will replace the one passed by former Mayor Sylvester Turner and his City Council less than three weeks before Whitmire took office.
To address high water bills, the new plan will use the average of the three previous months to correct the high bill.
Whitmire said he doesn't want Houstonians to be anxious about high water bills anymore.