After a check with my neighbors, it appears the city charges WAY more per
cubic foot of water if you have a 1-inch diameter supply pipe coming into
your house (and is where the city metering device is installed) than if a
5/8-inch diameter pipe is supplying the water.

Could be related to pressure issues maybe? You neighbors may not have the
full story. Try calling the water company and asking?

This is a pretty common scheme in the US. It's a back door way into progressive
water rates, i.e. you can afford to pay more, so we're going to bill you more.

In most communities, the water itself is free. The costs that have to be
recovered are the distribution and replacement costs and those are generally
fixed (unrelated to the amount of water used).

Larger (ie more expensive) houses and businesses tend to have larger supply
lines, so they get hit with higher costs.

--
"Tell me what I should do, Annie."
"Stay. Here. Forever." - Life On Mars