UPDATE (3/2): Lazaro De Leon said the city determined his water meter was working fine and there were no apparent leaks.

We found out he could file a complaint with the city to get the matter resolved.

On Thursday, De Leon’s son-in-law said they did just that and were able to get the issue resolved.

De Leon’s water bill was reduced and will be reduced to at least the next few months to what he was used to paying before.

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ELSA – A Hidalgo County elderly man said his questions why his water bill came 50 percent higher than usual.

Elsa resident Lazaro De Leon said he’s always very careful about his water use to the point where he uses water from his AC unit to water his plants.

He said he and his wife are on a fixed income. De Leon, also a retired plumber, said he learned to be efficient and frugal about his water use.

“I have all the receipts because I always store them to prove that I don’t have a balance with them,” he said. “They’ve never called me from the meter, they’ve never told me anything.”

The Elsa resident said someone from the city’s water department checked for above-ground leaks, but nothing was discovered.

“They came personally and checked the meter, and they saw that it was perfectly fine. They personally verified it,” De Leon said. “They ran water and up to 10 more gallons of water. That’s what they had to do to make sure that the meter was perfectly fine.”

CHANNEL 5 NEWS spoke to Elsa city manager J.J. Ybarra. He explained citizens need to take certain steps in order to the help the city find a problem.

“If a citizen comes in with a high water bill complaint we refer them to our water department, and once a complaint has been filed, an investigation is ensued. If that doesn’t clear things up we will take further steps,” he said.

Ybarra assured once a formal complaint is filed with the city’s water department, his office will do everything they can to remedy the issue.

De Leon said he would like for his water bill confusion to be fixed as soon as possible.