BILLINGS - A class action lawsuit has been filed against the City of Billings Public Works Department following months of disputed water bills by residents.
The lawsuit filed in Yellowstone County District Court on Feb. 6 by Western Justice Associates in Bozeman seeks compensatory damages for five named plaintiffs - Jeremy Chapman, Kailey Ferguson, Edward Johnston, Nancy Thorson, and Gary Zaccagnini, and "all others similarly situated."
The lawsuit alleges the city's public works department "engaged in a systemic and programmatic scheme of overcharging Plaintiffs and the Class for water and then pursuing debts for water usage which defendant knew or should have known were not owed."
The issue springs from a change in the city's billing system in 2024 that led many city water users to receive bills described in the lawsuit as "grossly inflated."
In response to customer inquiries and complaints, the lawsuit alleges that the city agency provided "various excuses for illogically high and impossible bills such as there was a leak, the sprinkler system must have been running nonstop, the sprinkler system was leaking and someone was stealing water."
The lawsuit also alleges a subsequent audit of the water billing system by a contractor hired by the city "reviewed less than 30 meters and failed to explain how residents were sometimes charged for more water than they could use in a month."
"Defendants refused to acknowledge the possibility of system errors despite thousands of simultaneous requests to review bills from Plaintiffs and other Yellowstone County residents," the lawsuit alleges.
On Feb. 15, the city announced that 50 Billings accounts were without water after the city cut service for non-payment.
City officials have been notified of the lawsuit but have yet to comment.
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