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City Takes Measures against Water Meter-Tampering Issues

7 years 2 weeks 6 days ago Wednesday, March 08 2017 Mar 8, 2017 March 08, 2017 10:13 PM March 08, 2017 in News

RIO GRANDE CITY – A Starr County city passed a new ordinance to crack down on water thieves.

Mayor Joel Villarreal said the city commission voted Wednesday to make tampering with water meters a criminal offense. He said it will now be considered a criminal act of theft of service.

Rio Grande City Code Enforcement officers showed CHANNEL 5 NEWS how some people tampered with water meters to cheat the system two years ago.

Back in April of 2015, we rode along with a code enforcement crew. We learned people used magnets in an effort to mess with meters.

Crews would find tampered meters about every month.

Villarreal said Wednesday it’s still a problem. He said the ordinance is an effort to help keep rates reasonable for their customers.

The mayor said meter tampering, aside from going on your record, could also result in a $500 fine.  

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