Family members and advocates gather outside Chicago City Hall Thursday, after an elderly woman was hit with a massive water bill.
82-year-old Diane Carli's vacant home in the Back of the Yards Neighborhood racked up a more than $233,000 water bill.
The Water Department claimed she used more than 500,000 gallons of water.
They've since placed her account in collections, and threatened to garnish her pension.
"It's an extreme hardship," says Lisa Carli, Diane's daughter. "Not only on her, but also on our family because it is my father's boyhood home."
The family turned to Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th) for help, but he couldn't get the Water Department to back down either.
Taking their fight to City Hall, the family joined forces with crisis responder and community activist Andrew Holmes.
"Mayor Brandon Johnson, step up, let's call a meeting, let's sit down at the table, let's resolve this issue. Not just have city hall sit here and take her hard earned money. That's a pension. That may be all she has," Holmes said.
The family continues to fight the city to eliminate the entire bill.