Loophole in water bills plugged

The city is stepping up its water service shutoffs — even if it’s just a few dollars for those who fall behind on their bill.

 
By Charles Sercombe
Are you one of those people who finagle your water bill to keep it right below the minimum threshold to avoid a shutoff ?
Well, forget about that ploy because the city is on to your tricks. And it’s putting a stop to it.
Last week a number of property owners were surprised, and in some cases outraged, when they received a shutoff notice even though they owed just a few dollars or even just a few cents.
“Previously, customers would just pay portions of their bill and allow it to accumulate until it met a certain ‘shut off’ threshold and then they would pay another portion, never paying the entire bill,” said City Manager Katrina Powell.
“Unfortunately, the city doesn’t get the option of paying a portion of its bill to the Great Lakes Water Authority (DWSD). It must pay its bill in its entirety, monthly.”
So, what that means is gone are the days when the city would allow property owners to run up bills of $1,000 before a shutoff notice was sent out.
Powell said the city further reduced the threshold over the past year to $500, then $200 and once again to $50. In each instance, the threshold level was abused by too many customers.
So, now the new threshold level is $5.
Cracking down on water customers is nothing new. Last year the city was owed $1.1 million in overdue bills. Shutoff notices went out and property owners had 10 days to pay up.
Dozens of households and businesses still ignored the warning and had their service cut off.
It cost them $50 to get service restored on top of whatever was owed.
For those who dare to restore water service illegally, there is a $500 fee to legally restore service.