Systemic overcharging, phantom fees, and alleged violations of state water protection laws have turned a small-town utility into a fountain of misery for McCloud’s most vulnerable residents
For years, residents of McCloud have watched their water bills swell like a burst pipe, but it wasn’t until two women—one a single mother on food stamps, another a disabled widow—demanded their receipts that the McCloud Community Services District’s billing practices began to look less like clerical errors and more like a calculated campaign of extraction.
Now, a growing chorus of residents, backed by California’s Water Shutoff Protection Act and internal documents showing admitted miscalculations, accuse General Manager Steven Ramos of running a district that weaponizes disconnection notices against seniors and the disabled while granting secret favors to those with insider connections.
The $3,400 Question: When Overpayments Become “Delinquency”
Nicole Monpain moved into 416 California Avenue in July 2023, inheriting a water account with a $3,314 balance. What happened next, documented in a certified letter to the district, reads like a financial horror story: despite making $200 monthly payments (far above her $162 service charge), her balance ballooned to $5,126 by April 2024.
When she requested a five-year transaction history, she uncovered a phantom $601.50 COVID relief credit that vanished without notice. Late fees multiplied even when payments were made on time. In August 2025, she received a disconnection notice for $6,145—nearly double what she owed when she moved in.
It wasn’t until Monpain invoked SB998—the state’s water shutoff protection law—and threatened a board hearing that Ramos admitted “collection fees were miscalculated for several of the charged missed payments.” He voided $3,104 in penalties but still demanded $3,440.39, refusing to credit her documented overpayments or the missing COVID relief.
“The remaining balance does not include the number of overpayments I have been making,” Monpain wrote in her appeal. “This $3,440.39 also does not include the $601.50 COVID relief credit… or a waiver of interest charges prior to July 2023 which myself and my mother are entitled to under Financial Hardship.”
The district’s own Policy 3425.24 requires waiving interest charges for CalFresh and Medi-Cal recipients—benefits both Monpain and her mother receive. Ramos offered a 12-month payment plan anyway. The board later approved 18 months, but only after Monpain’s public testimony.
The Disabled Senior vs. The “Exempt” Status
Jolie Hickman’s case exposes what residents call a pattern of duplicity. A disabled senior on CalFresh, Hickman owed $1,890.16 when she signed a payment agreement on October 21, 2025. Ramos drafted a 12-month plan at $320.12 monthly—totaling $3,841, more than double her debt. He told her it was the maximum allowed without board approval.
But the math doesn’t lie: $320.12 × 12 months = $3,841.44. An actual 18-month plan would cost $105 monthly. An 18-month plan at $320 would equal $5,760—enough to buy a new well.
“He specifically told me 12 months was the max he could do,” Hickman said. “The paper shows he added 12 months of future bills to my past-due amount. That’s not a payment plan—it’s prepayment extortion.”
Emails show Ramos claimed he gave Hickman SB998 documentation and discussed alternatives. Hickman, who has no attorney, denies this, offering to take a lie detector test. When she couldn’t make the $320 payments, she asked for a $200 monthly arrangement or permission to work off the debt or offer her a deferment and lien her home until she is able to cure this. Furthermore, she denies this bill all together because for 5 years her and her husband were living in the RV while their home was being built and rented a porta potty and had no usage of the sewer, yet were billed for it. Per the Building department, they did not get approval to move into the home until Nov 2022 when they had sewer connections.
“I am literally leaning on bankruptcy,” Hickman wrote Ramos on December 30. “I would be willing to come in a few hours a week to work… or put me into a longer payment plan like 60 months.”
Ramos refused, citing her signed contract. He also claimed he moved her account to “exempt” status—waiving late fees—but the bill she received October 21 still included over $800.00 more water and sewer late fees.
Great Northern assistance, which she applied for, won’t cover water bills. Salvation Army caps help at $200 but requires she pay down to $200 first—”which obviously I cant,” she wrote.
Selective Enforcement and Favoritism: The Rental House Exception
While Hickman and Monpain faced threats of disconnection, other residents received startlingly different treatment. Ruben Lucio owns a rental property where the tenant—a mother of five—fell $900 behind on water bills. The account is in Lucio’s name, but the tenant’s boyfriend happens to work for MCSD.
District policy requires landlords to pay or enter payment plans for tenant delinquencies. When they pressured Lucio, he told them to pursue the tenant directly. The district’s response? They seized the tenant’s trash can as leverage.
Then the boyfriend—an MCSD employee—spoke with Ramos.
Despite being more than 60 days late, the tenant never had to enter a formal payment plan. Ramos made an “exception.” The debt remains unresolved, but no disconnection notice was sent. The employee’s household continues receiving service while disabled seniors on fixed incomes face shutoffs within weeks.
“The rules don’t apply equally,” said Lucio. “If you know someone, you get treated different. Regular people get the hammer.”
The Leak No One Fixes but Everyone Pays For
Publisher Jay Martin first noticed the problem while delivering papers on Tucci Street. Heavy water flowed downhill, creating an ice rink at the bottom—a clear safety hazard. County Road Director Garrett Richards had inspected it last fall but delayed repairs until spring. Now, with winter here, they’ve dumped cinders for traction instead of fixing the source.
Martin’s observation highlights a deeper issue: while the district aggressively pursues disputed debts from individuals, it ignores infrastructure failures affecting entire neighborhoods. “We’re paying for a service they can’t even maintain safely,” he said.
Phantom Rules and Hidden Infrastructure Bombs
Residents say the district operates in deliberate obscurity. Hickman requested the “rules and regulations of water use” three times from the new Administrative Assistant Amy, but she refused to provide it. When Hickman email Ramos he denied to reply as well.
One resident, asking not to be named, described how the district charged his houseguest a service fee for connecting an RV to his spigot—an apparent invention of policy not found in any posted regulation. The 10-page policy mentions nothing about guest RV fees, street pipe liability, or why some residents are charged for “ALLEYS” and “LIGHTS” on their bills.
More alarming: a former employee reveals the district hasn’t replaced aging street water pipes running directly under residents’ homes; despite knowing they could burst and cause catastrophic damage. Hickman’s own kitchen floor collapsed years ago from a pipe failure.
“When we bought our home, a huge hole was in the kitchen floor from the water pipe bursting,” she said. “During our remodel, they removed them and replaced them so they run out by the street now.”
The district’s liability for these pipes remains unclear because residents can’t access the full rules.
The SB998 Smoking Gun
Both Monpain and Hickman discovered the district’s alleged playbook: offer a payment plan, claim SB998 protections were explained, then deny an appeal by saying the resident “opted out.”
In Monpain’s board hearing minutes from September 8, 2025, directors closed her public hearing in 29 minutes and approved an 18-month plan—after she provided the SB998 printout herself. Ramos’s emails to Hickman claim he gave her the same document, but she calls it a “bold-faced lie.”
SB998 explicitly prohibits shutoffs during appeals for residents who “declare that the household’s annual income is less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level.” Both women qualify. Yet both received disconnection notices during active disputes.
A District at War with Its Customers
Ramos’s $132,500 salary includes a 15% performance bonus potential. His employment agreement, signed September 8, 2025, tasks him with “securing additional District funding sources”—but doesn’t define whether that includes late fees or payment plan overages.
The district’s 2025-26 salary schedule shows a 5% wage increase for employees, financed partly by “late fees” and “penalties” that Ramos has authority to waive or impose at his “sole discretion,” per Policy 3425.26.
When Hickman requested a hearing, Ramos emailed: “The Board of Directors’ attorney counseled that your request for appeal is not valid… You breached this contract in November… There will not be a written summary on the tenth day.” This directly contradicts Policy 3425.25.2.1, which requires a written summary within ten days of any appeal.
The Road to Tuesday’s Shutoff
As Hickman’s Tuesday, January 20 shutoff looms, the stress manifests in sleepless nights and physical pain. “I was up all night fearing for my safety, and my back is in agony,” she wrote.
Ramos’s final word: “To avoid disconnection, MCSD will need to receive the full balance of the account by Tuesday morning, 9 am.”
The district’s mission statement promises “municipal services at a reasonable cost applied consistently to all customers, while maintaining a healthy infrastructure.” For McCloud’s most vulnerable—and for those without insider connections—that promise appears to have dried up.
If you are facing a similar situation or have dealt with these billing issues, please reach out to Siskiyou News. We would like to talk with you, on or off the record.
13 Comments
MY FIRST SHUT OFF NOTICE STEVEN RAMOS GAVE ME WAS FOR JANU 25TH, THEN WHEN I EMAILED HIM TO TRY TO FIND A RESOLUTION, HE SERVED ME WITH A SHUT OFF DATE OF JAN 20TH, 5 DAYS EARLIER. – Jolie Hickman
Nice attempt at a hit piece. Did you iterview Mr Ramos, the accused? How do you end up with $1800 in the negative on a water bill? Thats 10 months overdue. Also, the calculation of $320 for 12 months includes the estimated current months bill plus the dividend for what was owed. Simple math. Did you mention that he secured funding and had the whole water supply for the town replaced in record time?
Where you one of the ones that opposed the water plant? The town would be booming, instead of dead with welfare boomers and bayarea garbage.
At first I thought this was the most biased article I’ve read in a long time. Then I realized that the top of the article it has the words OPINION, FEATURED NEWS and SISKIYOU NEWS. Which is it news or opinion?
If this is supposed to be news, was anyone even asked to check the facts on these accusations?
Are we expected to take the word of the author and a couple of people who haven’t paid their MCSD (water, sewer, garbage, alley maintenance and plowing) bill in more than a year then declare senior and disabled abuse when they finally have to pay up or have their services stopped?? No way! That is not news.
AJ – did you miss the part where she lost her husband and fell behind in her bill, or the young girls mother is disabled and obviously came to care for her. (Obviously you did )easy to do when your living on a fixed income and you have a mortgage.
Not to mention Ms Hickman and her husband lived in their RV for 5 years while they had no services for sewer and used a porta potty , and street water, yet were billed, they were enormously overcharged including the GM forcing her to pay in advance. Or better yet, because she’s standing up for her rights and the GM Steven Ramos refused to work with her forcing her to stand up for her rights then talk about being unfair and bullied- gives her a notice to shut off for Jan 25th then reduced it to Jan 20th- if you ask me,besides violating her legal rights, that she has, he is causing her undue stress.
I could only imagine still grieving and struggling to keep her home that her and her husband build as their forever home, and her pain management is water and it’s about to be taken from her when all this could have been avoided.
I feel for Ms Hickman & Ms Monpain and I applaud them for fighting for what’s right
Now to tiop that off, look at the math on this- I never heard of a water company forcing you to pay 12 or 18 months in advance and even for 18 months he’s cushioning it over 900- does he not know how to add??
Per their own rules and regulations the GM has refused to offer her an alternative plan. With McCloud being half empty and approx 300-400 people live there full time and approx 10% of the community were hit with disconnection notices, the district will lose money each month and who knows how many before that. That’s definitely not good tactic of a GM to put the community in harms way.
I reviewed the financials they have on their website. 1.2 million in salaries, that pretty much sums up to what they get from the community per year, looks like if they continue to shut people’s water off and not offer alternative plans that are reasonable, guess they need to go back to the drawing board and cut Steven Ramos salary , and the staff too.
I personally would petition the state and get meters . Every household is paying the same amount , totally stealing from the smaller households that would use 1/2 the water which would drastically cut the revenue because the meters wouldn’t move much because half the town is empty. And to think where I live, if I’m not going to be in my home which I use as a second home, my district shuts the water off , WHY ARE PEOPLE ALLOWING THIS TO HAPPEN, NO ONE SHOULD HAVE TO PAY FOR SERVICES THEY ARE NOT USING .
When a small community relys on good leadership and leadership fails, things can fall apart quickly. McCloud use to have a great GM, since Wayne left and the crew behind him, it’s been lawsuits, shutoffs and tormoil for alot of the residents in this community. What’s me t??
SPEAK UP PEOPLE. READ YOUR RIGHTS, DONT BE AFRAID TO PROTECT WHATS YOURS – PETITION FOR STATE REGULATION
Petition the State. Don’t let the GM drag the community down with him.
Steven Ramos of all people should know what grief is and to not work with a grieving lady that lost her husband , after living in an RV for 5 years to finally move into their home and he passes away, talk about pain.
I’m truly sorry for your loss Ms Hickman and what you are going through especially when this could had been avoided
I would suggest start a GoFundMe , call your local Supervisor Jeff Harris , contact Adult Protective Services for elderly abuse. Report them to the California Water Commission shut off complaint, And file a lawsuit against the water district , .your a very courageous lady and I admire you for standing up for your rights!
STATE NEEDS TO COME IN AND TAKE OVER .
YOU GOT IT RIGHT !
FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHTS !
STATE NEEDS TO TAJE OVER!
while I understand people fall behind and try to resolve the issue. Jolie Hickman is a smart lady, She’s far from a welfare boomer or bay area garbage and if I know her, she exhausted herself to find a resolution only to be shutdown and denied.
She worked hard all her life as a Corporate Mortgage Underwriter. Together with her husband that ran his real estate brokerage for 40 years, they came here to retire.
They got delayed in construction of their home not because of funds, but because of the long cold winters in McCloud and multiple contractors that failed them in completing their home as promised .
They poured their life savings into their home and living in an RV for five years to see the bigger picture -their forever home , then imagine , her husband that spent endless days working on their home before, during and after the contractors, gets diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Then after he passes not even 2 years after they finally got approval to move into their home. To work all your life to finally retire then live in an RV to finally enjoy your home then your spouse dies- . Talk about drvestation !
Then trying to pick up the pieces to figure life out. While her home still not completed, broke, with disabilities and managing the best she can.- she didn’t deserve this .
More people need to stand up and fight for what’s right.
I agree, the State needs to take over. The community is being drained from lawsuits
WATER SPILLING OUT ON TUCCI ST
Do the home owners on Tucci pay their water bills ? Maybe some falling behind ? This is an actual of being bullied.
State regulators would fix this in a hurry, replace old pipes and yes add meters, but meters has been in the making for years and the reason meters aren’t in is because if the meters are installed the district wouldn’t make any money-
Ummm, she’s taking on the Water District without and attorney ?? She’s got to be one courageous and smart lady – rightfully so
Holly crap! And the board isn’t stepping in ??
Wow. Well. I did petition the state, I also contacted our district representative at the county, I filed claims with rhe water control board, covid fraud, the attorney general, etc, etc. All had been scapegoated that they had no jurisdiction. I submitted a 32 page appeal package that none of the board members even looked at. The MCSD are permanently deleting accounting entries and were charging interest above what their paperwork says they were supposed to be charging. 600$+ late fees every month. I haf to take out a loan to pay my bill in full so that my son and I could keep our water on. My biggest concern when I tried to speak with them was that if this is happening to me, I know that these accounting errors are happening across the board. Seeing this article just confirms how bad things are. Praying for the other residents affected.
Time for the community to join forces and vote for better leadership , it’s ashamed what’s happened to the district . One particular agenda meetings hit hard to my heart. I’m a grandparent and when my grandkids are up they love going to the park. But I don’t think it’s safe
The MCSD received slightly under 200k back in 2019 to redo the playground. 7 years later, still not done claiming not enough fund..makes me wonder where the money is, and had they taken care of this in 2020 B4 covid then they would had afford to redo it. Now they are applying for a 7 million grants to redo the park, give me a break wouldn’t cost that ..I totally agree a state audit is in need for the protection of our community that funds are managed properly . The board meetings are a joke, there all robots agree with everything Steven says- I’m sure getting on the payroll is a big contributor and now I understand why Kevin sued the district and cost the district over 50k which in turn cost us. A man that smelled something just wasn’t right .
Kevin if your reading this maybe you should have your attorney call Mr. Hickman .
Hold on here – she’s entitled to the 11.83 standby fee. others pay it. Everyone in town knew their home was under construction and new the home was a disaster . They lived in a RV for 5 years and they were entitled so yes, favorism definitely and as far as Nicole Griffith, didn’t the Hickman’s save you from being evicted when you were pregnant with your 5th child ? Pretty crappy to bad mouth a lady that helped you over the years. Mrs Hickman, I knew your husband, he’d be so proud of you dear! Be strong and push forward, the law is on your side !
Pay your bills and you won’t have a problem, these folks don’t pay there bills and wants the rest of the community to support them, IDONT Think so!!!!!