Port Arthur homeowner disputes water bills for 5 years, says balance keeps rising

A Port Arthur homeowner says he has spent five years trying to resolve a water billing dispute that he believes began soon after he moved into his newly built home, and he is still trying to understand why his balance continues to rise despite making monthly payments.

Dexter Antoine, who lives on 19th Street, said the issue started when the city could not locate his water meter and his bills were allegedly estimated for years.

“For five years they could not find my water meter, so they were just guesstimating the bill,” Antoine said.

Antoine said the water department instructed him to pay $75 a month while the issue was being corrected, and he said he followed that guidance. Even so, he said his account balance continued to increase and now sits at about $800.

“I pay my bills and I work hard. I don’t owe the electric company. I don’t owe on my home. I just want this resolved,” Antoine said.

Antoine said that with help from former Councilman Willie “Bae” Lewis, city crews located his water meter just months ago. Lewis said problems tied to older meters have been a concern for years.

“Nobody has a $5,000 water bill. It still points toward those bad meters that they need to change out,” Lewis said.

The city is in the process of changing out all 19,000 meters, but Antoine said that has not resolved his situation. He said he has repeatedly visited the utility office, paid through the city’s automated system and kept bank records of his payments, yet his service has still been disconnected at times.

The case raises broader questions about how Port Arthur handles billing disputes, including how many customers are disputing their bills, how long disputes take to resolve, whether customers can lose service while waiting for an investigation, and whether other meter issues remain unresolved.

Requests for information from Port Arthur Water Utilities were not answered Tuesday. Water Utilities Director Calvin Matthews was initially expected to speak after Tuesday’s City Council meeting. When contacted at the utility office, Matthews agreed to an interview but, after reviewing a Facebook post and details of Antoine’s case, said he was feeling sick and left the building. A request was then made to schedule an appointment for an interview at a later date. Water Utilities Supervisor Rhonda Standberry was also identified as available to speak, but she was later reported to be out of the office and unavailable for an interview.

“I was just a face in the crowd with a complaint about the water,” Antoine said.

As of Tuesday night, Port Arthur Water Utilities had not said whether Antoine’s account has been manually reviewed, whether late fees continue to accrue during disputes, or how many other customers may be experiencing similar billing issues.