This time, homeowners and businesses that haven’t kept up with their water and sewer bills will get another chance before the city lists their property on a tax sale.

Last week, letters went out to about 1,000 property owners owing $1,000 in unpaid utility bills or more warning them they could face a water shutoff notice if they don’t pay up or make arrangements to meet their obligation in 15 days. Also, the letter reminds delinquents that interest is added to the unpaid balance at the rate of 1 percent a month – 12 percent a year – and that there’s an additional fee to have water service restored once it has been shut off.

Should an arrangement not be made after a shutoff, administrative assistant Bruce Keiser said the city is prepared to take the next step, which would be a lien on the property or what has become known as a “tax sale,” although technically the property would be sold for delinquent utility bills.

Keiser expects the collector’s office to be busy this week as property owners make payments before the 15-day deadline. All told, he said, the 1,000 notices represent about $3.5 million in unpaid water and sewer usage bills.

“We need to clean this up. Moving forward we can keep people current,” he said.

The new system of alerting people they could face a shutoff in services came about when more than 2,500 property owners faced a December 2014 tax sale. The volume of delinquents raised the question whether the city had sufficiently warned people that they could end up losing their property and prompted Ward 5 Councilman Ed Ladouceur to question if there was a better way.

Last August, the mayor and Ladouceur announced that property owners would receive shutoff notices prior to the more extreme measure of a tax sale. The systems weren’t in place to implement a program immediately. Also, like other utilities, the city faces a moratorium on shutoffs from November to the end of March.

By acting sooner and notifying people of the potential consequences, Ladouceur is hopeful people won’t get to the point where they could possibly lose their home or business property.

Letters outline payment methods, including online – which carries a $3.95 charge – as well as payment by mail and at the tax collector’s office in the City Hall Annex. The guideline for payment plans enables a delinquent owing $300 but not more than $500 to establish a payment schedule of no longer than three months. Outstanding balances of more than $500 but less than $1,000 can be paid over six months. And the city offers plans of 12 months for amounts exceeding $1,000. In order to qualify, the property owner must remain current in the payment of any and all future quarterly bills.

Failure to be current or in payment compliance with a plan could result in a shutoff of water services in seven days.