DECATUR — Water customers in Decatur who don’t pay their bill by the end of the month will have their water shut off, nomatter the amount of the bill, Mayor Charles Linam announced Friday.
In the past, the water department procedure has been to leave delinquent customers' water on unless their bills exceeded $75, but that procedure was not in compliance with the city’s ordinance on water works, Linam said.
The ordinance, which was passed in 1978, statesthat “if any bill is not paid within 30 days after a bill shall be rendered, water service shall be disconnected.” The ordinance also specifies that the city shall mail water bills on the first day of the month and that a 10 percent late fee will be added if the bill is not paid by the fifteenth day of the month.
Linam said the procedure of allowing customers to continue to rack up water bills until $75 is past due allowed some to keep their water on for 90 days without paying. If a customer lives in an apartment, hiswater bill might average $35 a month. It would be three months before the bill reached the $75 mark, and the customer may have moved away, Linam explained.
In addition, allowing customers to carry a bill for several months cancause financial hardship for the customers when they have to pay several months of water bills at once in order to keep their water on, Linam said.
“We will be following the ordinance, starting now,” Linam explained.
The city will continue to work with customers who are having difficulty paying their bills if they contact the water department, he said.
News, Pages 1 on 11/02/2011