Monday, January 09, 2012
 
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If you owe the city money, your days are numbered

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[January 09, 2012]  If you live in a home where the sewer bills have not been paid for months or even years, the city is issuing this advice to you: Your days are numbered, literally. 

HardwareThe numbers are 31 and 41, and the bottom line is that within 41 days, you may very well be living in a home with no running water. 

Thursday afternoon, three city officials sat down to explain what is about to happen to those who have neglected to honor their obligations to the city. Participating were an alderman, Buzz Busby; Chuck Conzo, city treasurer; and Susan Gehlbach, city clerk.

Starting today (Monday) the city clerk's office will send out registered letters to 10 accounts per week, advising them that they have 30 days to pay up on their delinquent sewer bill. 

In the case of rental property, the letters will go to the landlords and also to the physical address where the debt is owed to the city. 

According to city ordinance, the landlord as well as the tenant or occupant of the home is liable for the bill, and it is the responsibility of the occupant to find out if their landlord is honoring his or her obligations. 

On day 31, accounts that have not been settled will be given over to Illinois American Water Co., which will also issue a letter, this time giving the owner or occupant 10 days to settle their account with the city. This will be the final notice to the delinquent parties. 

On day 41, Illinois American will start visiting addresses and turning off water service.   

According to the contract signed between the city and the water company, the water company has a total of 20 days to do the shut-off, but Conzo said Thursday he expects they will act quickly once their 10-day notice has expired. 

When the water is turned off, the water company will send a bill to the city for $65 per address, plus a $10 administration fee. These amounts will be added to the total due on the delinquent account. 

In addition, the city will be billed by the water company for the gross revenues they lose during the period the water is turned off. This too will be added to the delinquent sewer bill. 

Before water service can be restored, the full amount due, including the new charges from the water company, will have to be paid. 

Once the water is off, Busby said he hopes to get John Lebegue of the city's building and safety office and the Logan County Department of Public Health involved in condemning the homes and forcing the occupants to vacate. 

This all may seem a bit harsh on the part of the city, but the fact is, the city has been working for years to nicely find a way to collect delinquent sewer bills, and for the most part none of their efforts have worked. 

But with each passing year, the problem is becoming larger and larger, as many homeowners and landlords have come to realize the city's efforts have been little more than empty threats. 

In 2002, when Juanita Josserand was city clerk, she reported to the council that the sewer department was $37,000 in the hole on delinquent sewer bills. In 2003 that number jumped to $56,000, and the issue came up again in 2005 when Busby reported to the council that the delinquent account number was growing. 

In the fall of 2009 Busby began an aggressive campaign in the city council to attempt to do something about the delinquent accounts. In August of that year, he reported the delinquent accounts exceeded $90,000. 

As of last week, Busby said the figure has now grown to over $360,000. 

According to state law, the sewer department has to be a self-sufficient entity within the city. When the city looks at the annual budgets each year, the sewer department does run in the black. However, these uncollected debts mean there is a stifling of the cash flow in the department, making it more difficult for the department to do sewer work. 

Because of this, the need to do something to collect the accounts is becoming more important with each passing month. 

The program to use Illinois American Water and a shut-off process was first introduced by Busby in April of 2011, when the total delinquent accounts hit a total of just over $250,000. 

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However, aldermen were reluctant to do anything because they felt a concern for tenants who occupied the homes with no control over the sewer bills, and the motion from Busby to implement the program fell by the wayside. 

Aldermen did discuss other means of collection, and later that year they agreed to use a collection agency for some of the accounts. However, that process has not moved along quickly enough, and the city thus far has seen no results from the efforts. 

In July of 2011 Alderwoman Marty Neitzel brought the idea of the water shut-offs back to the council, and this time, they agreed it was something they needed to investigate further. 

Conzo had done research with Denise Martinek, who was city clerk then, and the two had found the city of Belleville was using water shut-offs for collection of delinquent sewer accounts, and their results had been remarkable, with nearly all their accounts collected and current. 

Thursday afternoon Busby said he had every reason to believe the method would be effective in Lincoln as well, and Conzo agreed. 

However, even the best plans aren't without their problems. Busby has been doing drive-bys at some of the addresses that will make up the first 10 shut-offs, and Gehlbach has been working with Illinois American on the list. What they are finding out is that in several cases, those who owe sewer bills also owe on water and are already shut off. 

Busby recounted that last week he drove by a residence and personally witnessed a garden hose running from one house into another, a pretty obvious sign that one of the two houses has no true running water. 

When asked what they would do about those, Conzo said a few of them might go to collections, but more than likely the majority will go directly to city attorney Bill Bates so that he can pursue legal action. 

However, these are properties that already have liens placed against them by the city, and the odds of collecting any funds any time soon are pretty slim. 

On the positive side, what the city is hoping for is that the cascading effect of losing service, having homes condemned and occupants evicted will wake up a few folks and make them realize they have more to lose than gain by ignoring their obligations. 

Gehlbach also said it needed to be made clear this is not a program for the person who is running a few days behind on paying their sewer. All of the addresses being turned over are on accounts that are months behind and have already had liens filed against the properties for the delinquent account. 

Conzo said another point that needed to be made very clear is that the city does hold occupants liable as well as landlords. He said there are cases when as many as three parties could be involved. If it is a rental property rented in one person's name with another person actually living on the property, then three are involved -- the landlord, the renter and the occupant -- and all three are liable. 

The renter or occupant has the responsibility to find out if their sewer bill is paid. First they should ask their landlord, but if they are not satisfied with the answer, they may also contact the city. 

Gehlbach said anyone can call 732-2144 or 735-2815 and talk to someone in the clerk's office. The only information they will need is the physical address of the property. 

[By NILA SMITH]

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