City Of Raleigh Utility Billing City of Raleigh Water/Sewer Unexplainble water Bill for ONE billing period. City of Raleigh placed blame and stated I must be responsible. Charlotte , North Carolina

I have lived in a townhome in North Raleigh for 3 years.  I live alone and travel for work.  I am gone 3-5 days per week.  When I first moved in, I received a high water bill (left unpaid by previous owner).  I had a plumber out to look for leaks.  No leaks were found, and in case someone was "stealing" water, all access to any outside water source was turned off and crawl space to turn it back on is kept locked. 

NO PROBLEMS since then. I use very little water and pay the same amout every 2 months - $57.12.  In November 2010, I received a bill for over 278.00.  I called city of Raleigh utility billing.  They instructed me how to check the meter to check if the needle was moving.  It was not.   I still have no leak.  Since this time, I have received two new bills and my water usage is normal - back down to 57.00 (approx) every billing period.   I called the city of Raleigh again and they said I was out of luck and responsible because that water went through the meter. 

It is obviously a mistake or incorrect and I spoke with 2 different people.  They said there are no other options and everyone would tell me the same thing.  Since there was no leak, they cannot adjust it even a little.  I did not use this water and no one stole it as it had been turned off from the outside.  I am conned out of almost 300.00 and there is nothing I can do.  I wasnt even at home to use water for daily activities most of the days. 

Since there is no explanation, and I just am forced to pay it, I am worried that this can happen again at any time.