I am the Pastor of a very small congregation. And back in December of 2017 our church received a letter from Syracuse Water Dept asking was the building still occupied because there had been no change detected in the meter since the last reading. So I contacted the Dept and they sent someone out to check the church and meter and we were told that the meter was working fine. We subsequently received two letters warning us of "high water usage" and suggested that there could possibly be faulty toilets, silent leaks or a faulty water meter. I then had a plumbing company to send someone out and they physically checked all toilets,urinals and sinks and also visually inspected the church for any signs of leaking and found none. I reported this to the water dept. They then informed me that they would replace the water meter and test the old one but that we would be charged for it. I agreed to the charge. The person who came out to remove the meter went into the ladies bathroom and checked the back of one toilet and said it looked like some parts had been replaced. I said that they had been replaced about four years prior. Later I received a call and was told that the meter was working just fine and that there probably was a leak somewhere on the property. But because we had already had someone inspect for that, I informed him that we would monitor the next reading to see what happens. When we received our next quarter reading the bill less than $48, which was back to normal. When I called the Dept to point this out, I was basically accused of having had the toilets fixed as the reason for the lower reading, by a supervisor by the name of Diane! And that I could not contest the prior two bills $290.00 and $452.00 for the "high water usage"What a joke!!