SINTON, Texas — A Sinton resident is searching for answers after she was sent $2,000 water bill.
For two years now, Norma Jean has lived in the same apartment and has never seen her water bill reach the thousands. In April, she received a bill of $2,216.19. She took her bill to City Hall where they offered her a payment plan to pay off the bill.
"It's too much money, I'm just trying to live a normal life and I live in housing," Norma Jean said. "My rent is really low, the water bill is higher than rent and I said why do I have to pay $2,000, I did not see a leak. I do not understand y'all's meter to the computer. You're going to be responsible."
Technicians sent to monitor the meter say the device was working, but after the next months bill, Norma Jean and her daughter Nina asked the city to replace the meter.
"The first time around they didn't really, to me, they didn't do anything," Nina said. "It had to be the second time around that something got done more than what they originally wanted or tried to do."
She said during the time her mother was billed, there was a water main break in the area.
"I do recall that Sally with the City of Sinton mentioned that the guys did come fix a water line that broke," Nina said. "The Housing Authority said their maintenance came to check for leaks and it wasn't on their property, it was the City's property that the waterline was broken."
3NEWS reached out to Sinton City Manager John Hobson to ask about the leak.
"If we had a leak on one of our lines, that wouldn't impact the customer whatsoever," Hobson said.
Earlier this week, Norma Jean and her daughter met with city officials and they told her she is still required to pay the bill.
"As of now, the City of Sinton is expecting her to pay the bill without any regard to figure out where was the break," Nina said. "Yeah, she's being held liable for it."
3NEWS asked Hobson if that's true and he said for now, that's not the case.
"No, we're requiring her to pay her normal bill this time until we get the results back from the meter," Hobson said. "If our meter is wrong, I will more than happily apologize to Ms. Norma, and we will adjust her bill and make sure everything is all right. If the meter is right, the bill will be the responsibility of the owner."
Hobson says the investigation is ongoing and he hopes they can resolve this issue for Norma Jean. He also said that the old water meter was mailed out today to be tested. Those results should be available in three weeks.