PLANO — Would you want to pay for water you didn't use?

The city of Plano is doing just that. In fact, it spent millions of dollars to buy billions of unused gallons.

It all goes back to a contract 13 cities signed with the North Texas Municipal Water District back in the 1950s. They agreed that their rates would be based on their highest yearly water usage.

So even if Plano doesn't use that much water every year, they still must pay for it.

Helen Gunn is on a fixed income. During summer months, she says her water bill can rise as high as $400.

She's worried about the impact of a rate hike on seniors, especially with so many other costs rising.

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Helen Gunn worries about higher water bills.

"You have X amount of dollars coming in," Gunn said. "If the water bill takes 50 percent of it, what are you going to do about everything else?"

Plano's highest water usage came in 2001 with nearly 27 billion gallons. But last year, residents and businesses used 19 billion gallons.

So the city paid for eight billion gallons of water it didn't use; that' s an average of 30,000 gallons per person.

"That's like a month of water that they're not using, but they're still having to pay us for," said Plano budget director Karen Rhodes.

Plano's water rates are already scheduled to go up to help pay for water district projects. But those bills could soar even higher to pay the district for the unused water.

The 13 member cities must agree to amend the contract to change that forumula, something Plano officials admit isn't likely.

"I think it's so unfair," Gunn said. "Especially to the seniors."

E-mail sstoler@wfaa.com