Woman Receives Water Bill Deposit from City of Weslaco
Related Story
UPDATE (4/2): A Santa Rosa woman says she received her water deposit check from the city of Weslaco months after she moved out.
Yvonne Sellars tells us as of last Monday, she still had not gotten her $149 water deposit back.
We reached out to the city and were told there had been an issue with the billing cycle.
Sellars says she received her deposit check in the mail last week.
-----
WESLACO – A Rio Grande Valley woman wants her water bill deposit after moving out of her old home in January.
Yvonne Sellars tells CHANNEL 5 NEWS she needs her money and she's waited too long for it. She says she’s happy to be living in her new home but still misses her days in the city of Weslaco.
"I liked it. I liked living there. Weslaco is a pretty city to live in," she says.
On Jan. 22, when it was time for her to move into her new home, she visited Weslaco City Hall to stop her water bill. She was expecting to receive the $149 water deposit she initially gave.
"I said, 'When will I get my check.' They said, "You'll get it within four weeks after the last bill is generated,'” she said. “I said OK, the last bill was paid in February 1."
Sellars says in early March, she still had not received the check. She says she needs the money for bills in her new home.
She claims to have called the city at least three times a week, every week.
"They were giving me the run-around. I told them – I said, 'Look, I said it's been over four weeks. I say we're going on April now, and I still haven't received my deposit. What is going on with my deposit?'" she notes.
We reached out to the city of Weslaco to see if the deposit can be paid. Maria Barrera, finance director at city hall, says Sellars picked the wrong day to terminate her water bill.
"In Weslaco, we bill four zones and one zone every week. And her request to terminate her services happened about a day after her zone was billed. So she had to go through a process to wait for one more billing cycle which took another four weeks," explains Barrera.
However, Barrera says Weslaco will send Sellars’ deposit soon.
"I did confirm that her check is being processed with this week's refund checks, and that zone is getting refunded this week," she adds.
Barrera says she will follow the check this week to assure it goes out in the mail on Thursday.
Sellars says she is happy she will be receiving her deposit in the coming days.
Count on CHANNEL 5 NEWS to follow up on this story to see when the check arrives in the mail.
If you are having a problem with your water billing in Weslaco, contact its public utility billing department at 956-968-3181 or submit a payment online.
News
