Harnett County residents told to pay up despite sky-high water bills

HARNETT COUNTY, N.C. (WTVD) -- One Harnett County community is voicing its concerns over recent sky-high water bills.

Residents were shocked to open their bills and discover they owed hundreds of dollars.

One resident said her bill went from $40-50 to $159.

While Kristen Creel said her bill jumped to $320

"It was a year's worth of water in one month," said Creel.

"I just wondered what was going on," said resident Robert Kelly. "I was looking through my house to see if someone left an outside faucet on."

Harnett Regional Water referred ABC11 to the county for answers.

Community relations coordinator Ashley Deans told ABC11 they are aware of the billing discrepancy and are working to identify residences with inaccurate water bills.

They don't believe the issue was countywide but it is affecting the Crestview and Peachtree communities. Residents are expected to pay their bills.

"The way they've pushed everyone to the side and not done anything about it it's unfair to all the customers," said Creel.