SAN DIEGO (NEWS 8) – Sky high water bills have been an ongoing issue for months and now an audit of the Public Utilities Department reveals details including less than standard work days and delays in repairs.
Anthony Theodore owns a building on University Avenue that's soon to be a new bar and restaurant. For months, he's complained of being overbilled by the City of San Diego's Public Utilities Department. He had an old water bill that shot up to $2,000 and the city paid him back, but regarding his water meter reading he said it was impossible to read.
Theodore said he was not surprised at the findings in the department audit, which discovered last year work crews put in only 3.6 hours of an eight hour work day. Additionally, the audit showed how it took more than 10 months to replace damaged lids and more than one year to replace boxes.
The audit also revealed that PUD has a large backlog of about 25,000 box and lid maintenance service requests.
"Quite frankly, we're appalled. We're appalled at the findings and what the auditor is finding because there's work to go around for lids and boxes that need to be replaced,” said Johnnie Perkins, the Deputy COO of Infrastructure and Public Works.
The audit shows a work crew of eight should be able to replace 12 boxes and 20 lids per day, but they're actually only replacing four boxes and 15 lids per day. The audit cited a lack of management, oversight and accountability.
"We need to change the culture at the PUD,” said Perkins.
Last month, a separate audit showed less than one percent of bills last year were incorrect. That's 2,750 water bills out of 1.3 million.
"We did find issues and concerns with how meter readers were conducting their work and overriding management controls,” explained Eduardo Luna and independent city auditor.
San Diego's Public Utilities Department Director, Vic Bianes announced he was retiring Wednesday, August 29.
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