Water Bill Help? (not Not Asking You To Pay It)

Alright, so my uncle is in jail and I've been having to keep the utilities on myself. Deciding to let the internet go and just paying for the water/power (the mortgage currently unpaid etc. but couldn't pay that thing if I used all the money I have, so that's just something he'll have to deal with when he gets out)


anyways, I've never had anything in my name before, so I'm not sure if I'm reading this right.



This would mean that he's already paid some money in advance, and the bill is being deducted from the "balance forward"? correct? (Last month's bill)

This month, the balance forward is 115.05 and the payment due is 54.58 and it says
"Credit Balance - DO NOT PAY - 60.47"

That being said, my water got shut off in the middle of the night last night and their offices are closed until Monday, so I can't even call and find out what happened


Am I just reading the bill wrong and actually owe them money or is it a *** up on their end?

It sounds like the bill was for 115.05 and he already had a credit of 60.47. So it seems you'll owe them 54.58 since

The way I'm understanding the wording is

Bill - credit = due
115.05 60.47 54.58


But the way its laid out in the picture kinda contradicts that,so I'm not 100% sure

If that was the case, then it would have been shut off last month? Since the balance forward was 146.91, no?

Possibly. I know some bills here give you a month's grace period over a late bill. How much is your usual water bill do you know?

quick edit: Its bugging me because their wording says one thing,but the way its laid out suggests another

Credit balance is credit, based on overpayments, and usually the deposit required to open the account.

Funny thing about deposits is, they like them so if they get "screwed" one month, they're not out the money, but they do not intend to let you use the deposit to pay your bill. Its their safety net, not yours, sad to say.

As a company, they've only lost $15, but you owe them the 140~ from last month and the 31 from this month. If it's just you and your uncle, his presence probably wasn't x5'ing the water bill so this is probably a few months of accrued balance. Either they're tired of waiting (sorry man) or they disconnected because noone contacted them.

(Deposits are often given back after a year or two of ontime payments. Your deposit, less your current balance, is given back when you shut the account off.)

This bill is very *** confusing. The power bill at least says "Okay you owe this amount. Pay it by this amount"

With this thing, I'm having trouble finding what's owed, if anything at all.

Yeah I hear that. With their uses of minus symbols in a positive and negative nature,its hard to make sense. Hear the bills will just say

"Current service fee: 40 euro"
Overdue Service fee: 40 euro
Total fees due : 80 euro

Especially because of not understanding how your water company uses "balance forward -" and "credit -" so I see whats killing you

That's the most confusing bill I've ever seen lol

I read it like there's a credit on the account still. I don't suppose they have an online payment service or an automated number to call? Either one of those should outright tell you what your balance is.

Either way that is a cray bill. I don't think I've ever spent more than $30 on a water bill for a month, and that is if we are outright doing slip-n-slides or filling a pool in the summer every other day.

Hi, Tiger ~
Call the town and tell them your current situation. They may be able to provide you with some social services ($$$$) or, at least some guidance on how to handle the finances. Best of luck to you! ~~ Emmm

Your best bet would be to contact them and find out what the story is, or ask your uncle. The most i've ever had to pay is 60 bucks and thats for 3 months in the summer.

That bill (and what you say the current bill says) looks like you still have credit left...

Notice the - on the back end of each number?

Last bill amount: 146.91- meaning a credit of 146.91
your usage of water billed you for 16.18 and the sewer for 15.68 for a total bill of 31.86. Because you had a balance forward of 146.91- it subtracts your bil of 31.86 from that credit and you are left with 115.05.

next month, you have the balance forward of 115.05 and the bill for 54.58 leaving you with:

115.05
-54.58
------
60.47 your remaining credit. There is no other way this math would work out, there's no way 115.05 is your bill and HAD you not paid, you would get a disconnection notice and some additional bills.

I think they messed up in some way, though that doesn't help you much. You could technically go to the hole out front and turn it back on if your city is like my old cities when I was a kid and they don't lock them.

I'll give that a try now, thanks

All I've used it for in the past month is the toilet(and I either don't flush #1 or just go outside and only ***about once a day because I do intermittent fasting and eat only about once a day), and drinking water (gallon/day)

They're closed till Monday, but I'll give the automated thing Krizz suggested a try

Automated system says in shut off state, then proceeds to say the current credit balance is 60.47; so if I wasn't looking at the bill, I'd assume this is what owed.

That being said, right there on the bill it says
Credit Balance - DO NOT PAY: 60.47

So I'm just as confused now as I was before I called.

Based off that, I think you got screwed.

Signed up for online as well and that's pretty confusing too.

Says I owe negative $60.47 (same amount as the do not pay)

To me that means you dont owe them ***

got them to do a weekend turn on, but it's a $35 reactivation fee.

Looks like I'm going to have to call Monday and see really what the *** is just going on

If they messed up, they should waive that 35$ fee. And I think you have a case even if you do owe them due to those bills saying do not pay. 35 bucks can buy quite a bit of chipotle.... Make sure you get it back.

looks like u had a credit of 146.91
minus the current months bill of 31.86 (bill on statment)
leaveing a credit of 115.05

Minus what you say is this months bill of 54.58
leaves a credit of 60.47

Only thing i dont no is wether its more of a security deposit type thing they are taking from (which iv honestly never heard of) Or simply a credit from over payment. (Like if you uncle paid them an extra $200 at some point in the past when he didnt have to)

The way i read it, there is no reason your water should be shut off (payment wise.) Thats why it says 'deposit on account' and not 'amount owed'

I doubt it. Its the structure of most bills. At the bottom they list that months bill. Followed by any adjsutments (credit, fee's, non payments forwarded ect). Then a total amount due.

He still had a credit at the end of the month of that statment. Thats why it says deposit, not amount owed.

Even if i was wrong, i doubt theyd shut it off over a 30 dollar late payment.

i cought that ninja...

Thats quite possible. Im not sure how that worked with there service as i mention.

wow you paid a reactivation fee? i could have told you how to turn the water back on yourself! lol

I haven't yet, they add it to the next bill, but that wouldn't work anyways. I checked. the put a giant pad lock on the lever when they shut it off

oh ***that means he has had it turned off before and then he turned it back on and they caught him.. been there done that! lol