Natick Family Must Pay $13,000 Water Bill, Selectmen Decide

NATICK, MA — A Natick homeowner who was hit with an unexplained, five-figure water and sewer bill won't get any relief from the town. The Board of Selectmen on Wednesday voted not to abate Enzo Raggiani's bill, saying his water meter appears to be working just fine.

The Pumpkin Pine Road homeowner owes Natick nearly $13,000 for water and sewer service since the beginning of the summer, and Raggiani doesn't know why. This is at least the second surprise five-figure water bill handed out to a Natick resident this year.

Raggiani's bills started out normally at the beginning of the year. His first two quarterly bills came in February and May and were for $421 and $358, respectively.

Then in August, he got hit with a nearly $6,500 bill. His November bill was over $5,700. Compare that to his 2019 August and November bills, which were $120 and $655, respectively. He only moved to Natick in May 2019 and his daughter, Annie Zhang, is the property owner listed on the water bills.

Raggiani lives in an 1,800-square-foot home built in the 1970s with his wife, daughter and son. There's a pool in the backyard, but Raggiani said he filled it this year using a private water company. The sprinkler system in his yard doesn't work.

"I didn't even wash my car outside," he said on Wednesday.

He appealed the August bill and asked the town for an abatement. The town's investigation noted the bills were unusually high but didn't find a reason for it, so the abatement was denied. The family then appealed to the Board of Selectmen.

"A bill as high as 268 units is abnormal for this property, but unfortunately, there is currently no identified cause on which to determine if an abatement is possible," Deputy Town Administrator Jamie Errickson wrote in an October memo to Board of Selectmen Chair Jonathan Freedman.

Raggiani says he had his home checked for leaks or other potential sources of the problem, but nothing was found, he said. Board of Selectmen Chair Jonathan Freedman said the home's water meter is working fine, so there's nothing the town can do to lower the bill.

"After due consideration of the facts and circumstances the board declined to offer an abatement, given that the ratepayer was not able to identify the cause of the elevated water usage as well as confirmation by the administration that the water meter was properly and accurately recording the water usage," Freedman said in an email Thursday.

The family can go back to the Selectmen if they find new evidence about what caused the bill, Freedman said.

Earlier this fall, William Kourtis, the owner of a building along West Central Street, got hit with a $15,000 bill due to a leaky toilet, according to WBZ. On Oct. 14, the Board of Selectmen voted 3-2 to reduce Kourtis' bill to $8,456 with a payment plan.