Northern Colorado small-town residents claim water bills tripled following smart meter installation

Some Northern Colorado residents say their water bills have surged this summer after the Town of Milliken installed new smart water meters, leaving them questioning whether the meters are accurately tracking their household usage.

Kylee Morris, who has lived in Milliken for three years, said her household typically uses no more than 15,000 gallons of water a month and has not previously received a bill above $200. That changed after a new smart meter was installed at her home in June.

"And our bill more than tripled," Morris said.

Morris said the town's billing showed her household used more than 30,000 gallons of water, a level she said she could not explain.

"They claimed we're using over 70% more than our next highest peak month all-time on record, over 30,000 gallons, which we cannot account for," Morris said.

Morris said she hired third-party inspectors to look for potential leaks, including checking faucets and her yard, but no leaks were found.

"I talked to other neighbors (who had) similar issues. I started to realize there might be a bigger issue here," Morris said.

Morris said she understands water usage typically increases during the summer because of irrigation, but said the increase reported on her bill does not match her household's normal usage.

She said the town is now billing her for roughly 1,000 gallons of water a day.

"We've never gone over 15,000 in a month, and now they're showing 30,000 plus," Morris said.

The town declined to be interviewed on the subject, but via written statement said it has been steadily replacing outdated water meters with new smart meters over the past two years. Town Administrator Greg Brinck said older meters can "slow down" over time and may record less water usage than actually passes through the meter.

The Town Board approved replacing the remaining 2,500 meters over a three-month period as part of this year's smart meter replacement project.

The town also acknowledged challenges with some of the new meters transmitting usage information to its utility billing system.

According to Brinck, depending on when a meter was replaced during a billing cycle, the billing software could calculate charges using a resident's historical average or bill only for water recorded by the old meter. The system would then reconcile the account in the following month.

The town provided an example in which a resident could be charged for 5,000 gallons in June based on the final reading from an old meter, then be charged for 35,000 gallons in July to account for water used during both months after the new meter was installed. The town said there were also rare cases in which the billing software did not properly reconcile the charges.

The town said it is reviewing accounts affected by the billing software issues and is encouraging residents with concerns to contact Town Hall so staff can review their individual accounts.

However, Morris and other residents told CBS Colorado they have called the town to request documents and have been denied or even hung up on. 

The town also said water rates increased an average of 35% for 2026 after new rates were established in late 2025. Because water usage is generally lower during the winter and spring, some residents may not have noticed the increase until irrigation systems were turned on and households moved into higher usage tiers.

Morris said she knows of dozens of residents with similar concerns.

"So, I do think the issue still lies in the water meters," Morris said.

The town said the meters and meter pits are part of its infrastructure and that tampering with the equipment is prohibited under town code. The town said the existing code was published online after instances of residents tampering with the new meters.

Morris said residents have been warned against removing the meter covers because of potential fees.

"We can't, unfortunately, lift the cover because they have threatened us with additional fees for doing so. But this is where the issue started, and the answers seemingly lie," Morris said.

The town said residents who remain concerned after speaking with the billing department can request a work order for the water department to check for potential leaks.

The town said it will continue working with individual residents to review their accounts and identify possible billing or usage concerns.