Just for folks who don't want to read the whole article-- the water bill was paid but DPW has no mechanism to collect outstanding water bills. That is the key takeaway in my opinion.

Based on DPWs history of massively screwing up water billing I wouldn't get out the pitchforks just yet. $21k is a shit ton of water if the bill is actually correct.

Don’t we all?

My mom has about 12,000 because of a burst pipe that’s technically on the sidewalk and therefore the county’s problem. She has been working on getting it sorted for over a year, they told her it isn’t hers to pay but there’s literally nothing she can do because the system is terrible, apparently this happens a lot.

That’s my thought, because it would take a long time to rack up that much in water bills.

Still better than Dan Cox and his weirdo running mate.

The takeaway I got was two-fold:

1. DPW doesn't send outstanding bills to collections.
2. DPW doesn't do anything special to alert the user that they are in arrears.

One of these is easy to fix (2) and likely would improve cash flow into the city.

The other (1) is arguably important, but DPW should address (2) before ruining people's credit, as there is no current mechanism to provide notice about an account's failure to make payment.

However, I expect (1) to be implemented without (2) because I've experienced the city's bureaucracy enough to know better.

Oh no! Anyway.

didnt someone pull and parse through the water bill data a few months ago?
I want to say they total the amount of $$ outstanding by larger entities that just single homes. It was a pretty large sum.

You're probably thinking of this: https://www.baltimorebrew.com/2020/02/28/exclusive-baltimore-is-not-collecting-millions-of-dollars-from-commercial-water-users/

The billing rates for the the consultants running the water billing system are too high. $22M in 2020? Ouch.

It wouldn't surprise me that commercial users had larger outstanding balances. However, with the city needing money to fix its infrastructure, it is irresponsible of DPW and the city to fail to push for better returns on its billing strategies. Instead it will likely raise its water billing rate on those who do pay and ignore those who can pay but don't because that's easier than fixing actual obvious problems.

It take a lot of water to keep a pool topped off in the summer.

I wouldn't assume anything about either party.

edit: I guess I offended the pro-pool party.

the billing system is terrible to start with

sounds like maybe he thought it was an error and got distracted campaigning, paid it as soon as the article came out.

on the other hand, its insane that the democratic party in such a wealthy blue state produced a guy who lied about being from baltimore and also cant seem to keep up with his bills. the bar is so low.

blue no matter who though, ill take stupid over evil every day of the week and twice on sundays.

If he filled is pool with tab water over the summer, that cost would have came out to around $13.5K assuming a 20' x 40' x varying depth from 3'-9'. Its disappointing that he wants to be governor of Maryland and oversee all aspects of the state but can manage to keep track of his bills.

So do most of us.

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I came to say the exact same thing.

Pools evaporate less water per ft^2 than grass lawns do.

Well gee it seems like the bigger story would be that DPW doesn't have a system to notify and collect on outstanding bills, but why would the Brew focus on that.

A year or so before they switched to monthly billing I got a bill for thousands that was just flat out wrong. No leak, no extra water usage just someone read the meter wrong or someone input a number wrong. Took my like 5 or 6 phone calls, being on hold for hours and a fee weeks, if not months to get it fixed.

And that was before the switch to the new meters and the new billing schedule. For some reason baltinore just can't seem to get people water and charge them accurately. It's insane.

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The baltinore thing is so weird. I mean he grew up in the Bronx in the 80s and 90s he could have written the same exact book and just said his life was the same as a kid on the streets of baltimore since in the 90s those 2 places were very similar. Why specifically say he grew up in baltimore when he didn't.

He’s the hero this city deserves. Boycott the ridiculous water bill prices.

Yeah. I always pay mine after a few months.

HA! Reason #2 I move juuuust over the line and outrageous property taxes being #1, after living in the city since 99/00. Sorry, not sorry.

with cox and the media floundering around for stuff like this Moore would be in a great position to really take off if he had a campaign idea better than "teenagers should get internships"

He really is one of us

> You're probably thinking of this

no, a user here actually pulled the data themselves and posted a link to their google doc they made.

found it: https://www.reddit.com/r/baltimore/comments/ssi7u4/i_scraped_320000_baltimore_water_bill_accounts/

New update from the Banner: https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/politics-power/state-government/maryland-democratic-governor-candidate-moore-pays-off-21k-water-bill-in-baltimore-JMK5WY5KKFESDI2QD5IN6Z3WEY/

The Moores paid the bill Wednesday, claiming they were unaware of the balance... Which, I've never owed somebody $21k and not been aware of it but whatever, bill paid I guess.

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I usually try to stay on top of mine but I'd say I just forget to do it at least 2-3 times per year.

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the american suburban lawn is definitely one of the biggest environmental disasters i can think of

Banner on the clean up job, real news from the Brew

Not surprising!

> I've never owed somebody $21k and not been aware of it but whatever, bill paid I guess.

I've never heard of a water bill averaging more than $1,000/month! This is $21k over 18 months?

BRO come ON

Literally JV shit, now your 2.35M 5 years ago 8k square foot mansion is in the news for the dumbest reason ever

Still plenty of simps here to ignore it all which is fine, I too agree Cox is still worse

But jesus christ what a low bar

How are you coming up with that figure? The average swimming pool takes 18,000-20,000 gallons of water to fill.

$13.5k for 19k gallons of water? Might as well buy jugs at the store and dump them in at that price... and also assumes the pool was EMPTY when they started which is not likely.

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But you do not DRAIN a pool every year! You top it off when you uncover it.

FILLING A NEW POOL is usually cheaper to have done by a company that shows up with a tank truck.

> That’s my thought, because it would take a long time to rack up that much in water bills.

It was over 18 months, he's got a pool and over half an acre of grass

The amount is almost certainly correct.

Big ole pool, bout a half acre of grass.

This is literal public record, he owns the home in his own name in SDAT where anyone can find it. He is a public figure. This is completely appropriate to share.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/207-E-Highfield-Rd-Baltimore-MD-21218/36471683_zpid/

10k to fill up a private pool? Christ wouldn't it be cheaper to hire someone with a truck of water to do it?

Same here burst pipe. House was boarded up. Had no idea for 2yrs while living on the west coast

No it doesn’t. And u don’t fill ur pool from the faucet guy lol.

Yup. My salary would have been shy to pay his property tax and water bill.

While public pools often get drained and refilled, private homeowners typically don’t drain and refill their pools every year. You fill it once and only drain it if you need to repair it. Otherwise people just cover their pools for the winter.

I’d be more upset if the payment system for and the management system of the city’s water wasn’t terrible

A logical solution that would improve the city? Heresy

What a pretty house & pool.

If the pipe burst in a place where the meter is registering the flow, that would be on the property owner.

You are responsible to maintain the service lines within your right of way.

The system is horrible anyway. Even if he does so what. That means he lives in city, dealing with same crap we are. Bureaucratic BS. Brandon Scott and Nick Mosby were part of the city council and didn't do anything about it. And still nothing. How is a pipe break anyone's fault. That is old ancient infrastructure. The city works on these roads, the same roads over and over.....again. Especially Russell Street to 295. Oh dear Lord!!!

1. No one is filling a pool with a garden hose.

2. At Baltimore's increased 2023 rates, it costs <$12k (both water and sewer fees) to fill a full Olympic sized pool.

Yes, much cheaper, which is why people do that. And in 2021/2022 rates, $10k would fill an Olympic pool.

Doesn't Baltimore County owe the city like $300 million in water fees?

Baltimore city charges a volumetric rate per Ccf at $21.78. His pool is around 3600 CF which is 36CcF. I messed by math up, my bad. To fill his pool would only be around $784.04 plus the sewer volume charges at 56.88 for a grand total of $2831.76. That still leaves $18.17K. He did take care of it right away. For someone who has an ultra safe campaign it’s really surprising something like this would happen.

Water fees are measured in ccfs, so the math there is like mind blowingly easy... 20x40x9 = 7200, or 72ccf at $13.5 each... $972

Already posted my revised comment.

But he would only have needed to top off the pool. You are assuming he drained it first?

I assumed he drained it. Which may or may not be the case. After revisions the pool isn’t the issue. I feel a little foolish for the mistake.

The Baltimore City water system billing is so messed up. I don’t even get bills - I have to go online to see what is owed. This should not be seen as any evidence that the candidate did something wrong.

We're in MD not Arizona, you rarely need to be watering your lawn.

Cool. I had an ABOVE-GROUND pool and we did not drain that one... An in-ground pool should NEVER be drained off-season, since the ground freezing will cause the shell to crack if the weight of the water is not pushing back against it. Plus, their pool is heated, so they could be USING it in winter.

I don’t have a pool and what you are saying makes sense. The issue is the amount of time he didn’t pay His bill, it were only a few months I won’t think much of it. I am just a little disappointed he would let it go for so long. I still plan to vote for him. The Mosby’s went 12 months without paying their water bill many people weren’t too happy about that.

I get the bill in the mail for mine about 50% pf the time. They come every 3 months, so that is 5-6 billing cycles.

And the mail service has been very sketchy... both my replacement license and my new credit card just disappeared en route.

I do not understand why my house, JUST over the county/city line would be $28/3months and theirs is SO HIGH!

I live in the city, we get a monthly bill and mine is around $75 3 adults. If I pay a monthly bill late it will show up on the next billing cycle. The city maintains city and a good portion of county water but the city has to make up any losses and the only way is to raise rates on city residents.

I don’t get this argument, though? He moved from Montgomery County to NYC to Baltimore. He lived in Baltimore at age 14. Did he actually say he lived in Baltimore his whole life? I tried to read the book years ago but was so GD bored by it I never finished.

its more than just water consumption

hand the government a check government: "the fuck do I do with this?"

I had a rental property in Baltimore and only found out there was a massive water bill when I went to sell the property. $21k? No, not nearly that much but it happens. The water system is totally fucked up there and challenging to sort things out

Weird. My bill is FROM the city, but comes every 3 months. I pay on the same website you do.

Maybe.

Awwe.,.,.you little downvoters sad because you're getting high water bills and property taxes? HA!

Well fuck me apparently for using context of a water bill to assume that you're referring to water usage.

He paid the bill because he doesn't want this to be a distraction to his campaign. There were plenty of opportunities to get current on his bill over the last 18 months.

They've already published articles detailing how DPW has no system for collecting payments big guy.

Agreed. Property taxes for this house would be $40k annually but here is a story about a delinquent $20k water bill. For what? Why not just single out the DPW? Why make it out to be a politician is just like “one of us”? Newsflash, the top 1% is not like one of us and he’s no hero for this BS.

I had a medical bill I was completely unaware of for months. University of Maryland. Didn't show up on my portfolio, no mailing, no email.

Got a collection notice and was like "WTF?"

Pretty pissed off, our credit scores are both well over 800. We literally had no idea. Paid that moment online with the address they gave. Now I log into it once a month just in case.

Nonsense.

The county already told her she is not at fault, it is just unlikely she will get a refund because of how messed up the system is. this happens a lot as I said.

My dad has a pool and a lot of grass and I can guarantee he doesn't pay 20k per year in water.

Yes, my mom calls all the time and has even written to government people. It's insane. It started during covid though so they said they were backlogged.

Sounds like the real story here is the total shit show that Baltimore DPW/Water billing is and has been for years. As far as I can tell there has been almost no effort to correct it, meanwhile citizens continue to get outrageous bills and the city continues to miss out on millions of dollars of revenue.

lol damn I feel like I'm the only one who pays it on time every month. I'm doing it wrong.

Why doesn't this guy just pay his bills?

So why even report it?

I keep my shit up to date as well, and when I don't DPW does it for me by charging me twice when I only submit 1 payment. But, I'd rather pay $100 every month then $300 every three months or whatever.

The guy seems like a shitbag. Not as bad as Cox but clearly a shitbag.

Asking for a friend...

Dear god help me, I really need to pay my outstanding fucking water bill jfc.

this cracked me up

Eh, I remember a time where I didn't get billed for water in Baltimore for like 4 months a few years ago.

Yes!! This happens all the time. Back in the good ole days of $120 every quarter we had our meter freeze and break — leaking a ton of water. Our bill was $1200 instead of $120 and it took calling our council person and speaking w the head of DPW to help us clear it up, after months of calling and harassing though.

I moved to Maryland when I was a teenager and still say I grew up here 🤷‍♀️

So he didn't pay anything over 18 months? I don't own a pool, but it was my understanding they you see these big water tanker trucks bring water to fill up pools. Maybe it was topping off the pool?

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Tell me you have never owned a pool or any grass without saying you have never owned a pool or grass.

wrong on both lmao

depends on their set up!

I’d actually argue the real story is that a year and a half of water in Baltimore adds up to $21,000. I get it’s a larger residence…but that’s over $1,000/mo in water billing.

Exclusive!! Breaking news!! lol

These seem like....really, really basic failings on the part of the city.

That is still pretty substantial, even so.

I have a pool, but I sure as hell don't spend 12k/yr on water.

Yeah, medical bills can do that.

It's annoying. I feel like that all should be made clear at time of service and what not, but surprise bills after the fact for this service or that are unfortunately a thing.

The whole billing system is nonsense, but I blame the University. It was one of their surgeons - separate 'company' - faculty physicians or whatever nonsense...but I mean I am set up for literally every online notification there is. I should have known it was there, and I just wasn't informed. Not my email, I don't THINK by snail mail (although it is possible it was recycled without opening, most of our mailbox is trash), and not in mychart/myportfolio.

just lame. probably didn't ding my credit but grrrr.

I've literally had the same thing happen.

Ethically, I don't blame anyone who gets entirely blind sided in these ways. Without proper notification, how can they be responsible? It used to be easy to keep up with bills, and for many sorts of bills, it still is, but a surprise is a surprise.

It’s a pandering piece suggesting Moore, like us, has fell victim to DPW collections oversight. In a tone deaf attempt to boost his campaign, he wants us to know that he paid the $20k debt in good faith.

sweet house but just more evidence to show that Wes is so not “Baltimore “. He could hang at city hall with that huge delinquent bill. How do you rack up 21k in water? He must drain the pool every week to clean it