NY village sends fake $1,000 water bills

A suburban village is sending out fake water bills of more than $1,000 to dozens of residents "just to get their attention" because it hasn't been able to gain entry to read their meters.

"It seems to be working," said Abe Zambrano, treasurer of Croton-on-Hudson. "About half the people have called already and we just sent the bills out on Dec. 15."

Zambrano, who said he thought up the gimmick, said Tuesday that the bills were sent to 34 homes "where we had gone two or more years without getting the actual readings."

"We have sent notices, we have sent letters," he said. "None of these accounts responded. We tried to be very flexible, we offered weekend appointments, but nothing." They did not make telephone calls because "It's hard to reach these people during the day," said village Manager Richard Herbek.

To get precise rather than estimated readings, village workers have to enter homes to read the meters. They also need access to complete a village-wide upgrade that will enable them to read the meters from outside and check them more often than semiannually.

"This is good for the people, because the way you know you have a leak is if the water bill goes way up," Zambrano said. "If we check more often, they lose less money."

He said he wasn't worried about people fainting _ or worse _ when they opened the fake bills because "It's not an amount that's so large. Some people really do have $1,000 water bills if they do a lot of watering." He also warned that after years of estimated bills, the actual bill could be a good deal higher than residents are used to and might even be near $1,000.

The typical semiannual bill is a few hundred dollars, he said.

So far, he said, "Most people are calling in, saying, `What's this?' and when we tell them there's no problem, they feel it's a good way to get their attention. They're saying, `Well, you certainly got me.'"

On the other hand, "We had one individual who called this morning, he wasn't happy about it, he was upset," Zambrano said.

If anyone pays the inflated bill, Zambrano said, "We will hold onto it, try to contact them again. Maybe send a certified bill."