Naples family hit with $4,432 bill after Collier County utility billing mix-up

NAPLES, Fla. (WINK) — A billing mix-up has left two Collier County residents on the hook for thousands of dollars they never knew they owed.

Stephanie and Sebastian Parga have lived in the Golden Gate neighborhood in Naples since 2022 and say they paid their utility bill on time every month.

At the end of May, they found out Collier County Utilities had been undercharging them. They were paying their neighbors bill, and their neighbors were paying theirs.

"There was a mix-up somehow, some way. It was very short notice, very surprising," Stephanie Parga said.

The two meters were incorrectly linked to the wrong accounts since March 2022. The county said the issue was identified in February while county staff was reviewing an unread-meter report.

Staff discovered the meter information had been associated with the wrong address in the billing system. Field staff then physically verified which meter served each property.

The county says the accounts and meters were originally established by the former utility service provider, the Florida Governmental Utility Authority. The Collier County Water-Sewer District took over those services in March 2018.

The county says the customer who overpaid has been credited. But for the Pargas, their bill now sits at $4,432.41.

They negotiated a 30-month, zero interest repayment plan to cover the balance.

"We were already paying about 150 a month and now the payment has gone up to be close to 300. About $300 a month," Stephanie Parga said.

That means they are now paying roughly $100 more each month on top of their regular utility bill.

Sebastian Parga described the toll the situation has taken on the family.

"I went through cancer. I went through chemo. So this, can I even sleep?" Sebastian Parga said.

"Very hard to be normal after this type of situation and already gas is already expensive, food is already expensive. So just one more thing. It was like we couldn't catch a break," Stephanie Parga said.

Collier County confirmed the Pargas are the only two customers identified with this type of billing error.