By William Tauro

Of course, city officials told residents that the newly installed water meters were reading correctly, and they were. However, those same officials neglected to inform Somerville residents that the readings were, in fact, wrongfully and knowingly inaccurate.

All this time we were blaming the new water meters, but in reality it was the readings submitted that were the real crime!

The story begins when the City of Somerville switched to the new meters. Ironically, around the same time, the city also let go of a number of employees—possibly during an administration change or for other reasons.

Unfortunately for the city, those departing employees either lost or intentionally took with them all the paperwork containing the final readings from the original meters. As a result, the new city employees tasked with cataloging the last meter readings and linking them to the zeroed-out starting points on the new meters were unable to make the connection. To save face and avoid major embarrassment, city officials guesstimated the initial readings—which apparently all came out extremely high.

So, while the new meters themselves are functioning correctly, the starting readings were absolutely wrong and based on estimates.

For those of you who had your water meters replaced, your next bill after the installation likely skyrocketed, and subsequent bills have continued to exceed the legitimate amounts owed.

Let’s not forget that many of the same elected officials in office today were there when this all happened—and most of them knew about it but once again neglected the residents of Somerville.

I encourage all Somerville residents, property owners, and renters—who may have faced higher rents to offset the inflated water bills passed on by landlords—to retain an attorney and file a class action lawsuit against the City of Somerville for the intentional overcharging on our water bills.

I also recommend hiring legal counsel from outside Somerville, such as a firm in Boston with no ties to the city, to avoid any potential conflicts of interest that could compromise your case.

Have those attorneys subpoena the city’s records on water billing readings especially the last actual meter readings from the old meters, as well as the employees who worked in the water department and Department of Public Works (DPW) during that time period that possibly knew about it and/or we possibly afraid of retaliation from the city for whistleblowing.

Also included in the subpoena should be—including city councilors—the mayor’s office and that mayor’s administration that served during that entire time period including employees up to this present time period as well where residence are still being billed these fictitious water bill amounts.

It took some time but the truth finally came out!

“On Air with Billy Tauro” Please Like and Follow Us On Facebook for more cool and exciting news updates and events! https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057320933117