DeKalb County announced today that it had completed the process of review 37,000 water bills that have been held from normal billing since December 2016.

These bills, which represent about 19 percent of customers, went through a review process to verify their accuracy. The county has periodically announced updates on the backlog and in February said the number of held bills was down to 1,300.

CEO Mike Thurmond has not decided if customer whose bills were held will owe any back pay. He released a statement praising the process of returning customers to a normal billing cycle.

“Resolving the problems associated with water billing crisis is a major step toward restoring public trust,” Thurmond said. “Significant progress has been made to address the historic water billing challenges and rebuild confidence in the county’s water billing process.”

MYAJC.COM: REAL JOURNALISM. REAL LOCAL IMPACT.

The AJC's Tia Mitchell keeps you updated on the latest happenings in DeKalb County government and politics. You'll find more on myAJC.com, including these stories:

Never miss a minute of what's happening in DeKalb politics. Subscribe to myAJC.com.

About the Author

Keep Reading

A Korean Air plane takes off from Incheon International Airport in South Korea on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. The plane is chartered to bring back Korean workers detained in an immigration raid in Georgia. (Yonhap via AP)

Credit: AP

Featured

Fulton DA Fani Willis (center) with Nathan J. Wade (right), the special prosecutor she hired to manage the Trump case and had a romantic relationship with, at a news conference announcing charges against President-elect Donald Trump and others in Atlanta, Aug. 14, 2023. Georgia’s Supreme Court on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, upheld an appeals court's decision to disqualify Willis from the election interference case against Trump and his allies. (Kenny Holston/New York Times)

Credit: NYT