Tallulah residents are up in arms on social media and elsewhere after all five Tallulah City Council members were absent from last week’s scheduled meeting, where residents had made it clear online they planned to complain about higher-than-average water bills arriving in July.
Mayor Charles Finlayson announced at 5:40 p.m. Thursday there would officially be no regular meeting of the council after none of the five council members had arrived for the scheduled proceeding.
Following the canceled meeting, City of Tallulah Spokesperson Yvonne Lewis said city officials understand residents' frustrations, but added any accusation of the city arbitrarily raising rates was simply untrue.
Finlayson echoed those sentiments this week, saying misinformation being disseminated regarding water rates needed to be cleared up.
“First I want to tell everyone that the rates have not increased since the last increase in February of 2022,” Finlayson said. “We have a few citizens proclaiming on social media that the rates have increased. This is incorrect information. The last time the rates were increased was last February and that was in relation to the upcoming $7.8 million water plant rehabilitation. Since February of 2022, there has been no water rate increase.”
Finlayson’s statement comes after several water service customers have complained about not only brown water, but about an increase in their bills.
“There can be plenty of reasons a person’s water bill has gone up,” Finlayson continued. “Typically, its one of a few reasons. Either the person has a leak, there were more days on the billing cycle, their meter was misread or is faulty. We have found in almost all cases, it is one of these reasons. What it never is, is an arbitrary increase in water rates.”
Finlayson said, if a customer feels their water bill is in error, there is a process they should follow.
“The customer should first contact the water office and alert them to the potential problem,” he said. “From there we typically will go back out and re-read the meter to ensure the first reading was correct. If the reading was correct then we begin investigating to find the problem. Leaks are the main culprits behind increased water bills. A lot of people will have a leak and not be aware of it, so when the bill comes then they are often surprised because the bill has gone up. Again, if a person thinks there is a problem, they need to contact the water office so we can begin our investigation.”
Finlayson said, if water meter readers suspect there is a leak, they will put a door hanger on the customer’s door alerting them to a potential problem.
“I also want to remind people that their water bills aren’t just water, it’s water, sewer and garbage. So, there are actually three billings on the bill. In any case, if a customer thinks there is a problem, they need to contact the water office at (318) 574-3162 so that we can have someone come out and begin looking into the situation.”
As for Thursday’s meeting, in the days since it was canceled District 5 Councilman Toriano Wells took to social media telling constituents he was out of town for work on a pre-planned trip.
City officials had no official statement as to the whereabouts of council members, only adding that council meetings may not legally take place without a quorum - the minimum number of council members that must be present in order to hold an official proceeding.
The next Tallulah City Council meeting is scheduled for Thurs., Aug. 10, at 5:30 p.m.
