Gilbert officials explain water bill increases and possible fixes

GILBERT, AZ (AZFamily) — After hundreds of Gilbert residents flooded Arizona’s Family inbox, saying their water bills are suddenly hundreds, even thousands, of dollars more expensive, a couple of town officials are giving their explanation of what happened.

We talked to Gilbert Public Works Director Jessica Marlow and Water Resources and Conservation Coordinator Jeremiah Churchill on Wednesday.

They said part of the sticker shock may be from a three-phase water rate increase approved by the Gilbert Town Council.

• Phase 1: In 2024, residents saw a 50% increase.
• Phase 2: In April 2025, an additional 25% increase took effect. That means a $100 bill before the two phases is now $175.
• Phase 3: Another 25% increase is scheduled for next year, doubling bills over the three-year plan.

On June 30, the town changed its billing system, requiring all Gilbert water customers to enroll in a new portal. If residents had autopay set up, it did not transfer over. Officials said some customers believed money was being withdrawn from their accounts, but it wasn’t.

For example, if your bill is $200 and you weren’t enrolled in July and August, instead of two separate $200 charges, you may have ended up with a $600 balance, something the town said is likely happening.

“I can say as a resident, it happened to me, and I did a double take, and I can see how that would be frustrating, saying, ‘Is there a problem with my bill or a problem with my usage?’” Marlow said.

The town said it communicated these changes through the old billing system, went door-to-door, and is still working to reach unregistered customers.

Out of about 90,000 Gilbert water customers, only 60,000 have registered for the new system. When asked what will happen to the remaining 30,000, officials said water shutoffs have been delayed. The original cutoff date was Oct. 1, but that has been pushed to November, and extensions could follow if customers need more time.

Another big topic was usage. Residents told Arizona’s Family their usage is showing as higher even though they are cutting back on water. Town leaders suggested leaks may be the reason, saying crews perform nearly 800 leak checks each year.

“But you have to maybe raise an eyebrow or a question if the same scenario is all of a sudden out of the blue happening for some people to see it all at once, especially for some that have these new meters in place that when they got it replaced, it looks a little bit different now,” Walker said.

Churchill responded that leaks can go undetected, especially in summer when the ground dries quickly. He said the town’s Advanced Metering Infrastructure system will eventually help identify them.

“We have been implementing this AMI system for the last five years, and there are over 50,000 of them in the system right now,” Churchill said. “Some people think that with the new billing system, they got a new meter, which is not necessarily the case.”

Some residents said they’ve hired third-party inspectors who found no leaks, raising questions about the accuracy of the meters. The town urged residents to report suspected leaks so staff can conduct their own inspections.

Gilbert is also in the process of rolling out new meters. Some are already in place. Earlier this week, Arizona’s Family reported on a Gilbert woman whose bill showed her usage jumped more than 250,000 gallons.

The town said that the case was caused by a batch of meters received from a vendor that were mis-calibrated, shifting a decimal point and recording 10 gallons for every actual gallon used.

“That is something that normally would get caught,” Marlow said. “We thought we had turned all those meters back to the manufacturer, but we obviously still have a few out there.”

Town officials said they don’t know how many of the faulty meters remain, but an alert system is in development to flag abnormal usage. They have not given a timeline for when it will launch.

If you are skeptical, the town says it wants to earn residents’ trust. Leaders encourage people to schedule a time for crews to check their systems.

For those who need to register for the new billing portal, click/tap here.

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