ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — David Kuoch showed 8 On You Side his St. Petersburg water bill for $2,538.

Susan Gagle received a bill for almost $1,200. Antoinette LaGrone got an over $1,500 bill. Holly Walker had one for over $1,800.

It’s an issue 8 On Your Side has been reporting on for weeks.

St. Petersburg homeowners, already hit hard by the hurricanes, are getting hit by a second blow: sky-high water bills.

Holly Walker said she’s been getting over $1,000 water bills in a home she isn’t even living in.

Her message to the city?

“Wake up,” she said. “Serve your community.”

“Help the people in need that were impacted by this storm,” Walker continued.

So what’s being done about it?

During Thursday’s Committee of the Whole meeting, city staff presented a few reasons for the high water bills, as well as some solutions and some numbers to back it up.

Below is ones of the tables presented. It showcases the number of accounts with high consumption in the month following an actual read of its meter in the previous month.

The following table showcases how much Tampa Bay Water St. Petersburg uses per month.

St. Petersburg City Administrator Rob Gerdes says, under current rules, the city can only do so much to help residents.

“You’re talking to people that are decent people, they’ve been paying their bill every month for years, they hire a plumber, the plumber can’t find a leak, and our response is, no leak, no repair, no refund,” Gerdes said.

On Thursday, council members considered changes to city rules that would offer some immediate help, and they will consider long term changes.

“The resolutions today will give us the ability to widen the scope of help that we will be able to provide,” said Council Chairman Copley Gerdes.

You can find those resolutions and ordinances below.

So what do these resolutions mean and how can they help you?

“One, it gives us the flexibility to help homes outside of just you have to approve to us that you had a leak, Copley said. “So now there’s some compartmental procedure, you don’t have to go through that URBC, so there’s a couple of less steps to get relief so it comes faster.”

“That’s really the big one between the three,” he continued. “There’s some mechanical to digital metering, we are already doing that.”

“Again, just skipping a step and giving relief faster instead of having to go through the URBC, go to the mayor, then come in front of council, you’re talking about a month or a couple of months,” Copley explained. “They can do this compartment right there and then.”

Copley said this will be retroactive, setting a precedent for the future, while helping the people who have already been impacted.

“Today, if you have a delayed bill or if you have an overage, you will be able to reach out to the city and have them fix that compartment without having to prove that there wasn’t a leak with the plumber or have to go through the URBC. They will be able to do that today,” he said. 

St. Petersburg resident and attorney Matthew Weidner said the relief is great, but he wants the city to get to the root of the problem.

“I watched the meeting very closely and I’m increasingly outraged,” Weidner explained. “What I didn’t see though is any hard inquiries into why these water bills are as high as they are.”

“So on one hand, they’re trying to figure out how to forgive or give the citizens some relief, but I don’t see enough hard-hitting inquiry as to why the water bills are as high as they are,” he continued.