Shutoffs may be used to collect utility bills if late

John Howell
Posted 8/20/15

Ward 5 Councilman Ed Ladouceur runs a business, and when people don’t pay their bills he picks up the phone and gives them a call, often saying, “I’ll stop by and pick up the check.”

So …

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Shutoffs may be used to collect utility bills if late

Posted

Ward 5 Councilman Ed Ladouceur runs a business, and when people don’t pay their bills he picks up the phone and gives them a call, often saying, “I’ll stop by and pick up the check.”

So last year, when the city listed 2,500 properties in a tax sale with most of them being for delinquent water and sewer bills, he thought there had to be a better way.

“I looked at this and something just didn’t ring true,” he said yesterday. He thought there had to be more to the situation than people not being able to pay their bills. Ladouceur decided to find out and created a committee to look into the issue.

Yesterday, Ladouceur and City Planner William DePasquale joined Mayor Scott Avedisian to announce a new procedure in the collection of utility bills designed from allowing customers to fall so far behind that the city has to resort to a tax sale to get paid. The system, which provides a mechanism to help those who can’t pay, is built on notifying customers when they miss quarterly payments and cutting off their water if they slip too far behind.

Lagging utility payments represent a significant amount to the city. Since the January tax sale, utility accounts over 120 days delinquent total $3.4 million, according to the city.

There’s more to the issue than the money that the city could use to reimburse what it has spent to operate the sewer system as well as purchase water from the Providence Water Supply Board. Chasing payments takes time, and once past due accounts reach the point of a tax sale there is the added cost of verifying property ownership, advertising the sale and then conducting the sale. Those costs get pushed on to the property owner, making it all the more difficult to pay off the amount due.

“If you’re in trouble with this,” Ladouceur said of utility payments, “don’t let it go a year and two years. We don’t want to be perceived as the big hammer.”

Ladouceur said within 20 minutes of the initial committee meeting he was convinced that not only would they find solutions but there were the right people to accomplish the job.

Avedisian noted that the committee approached the problem from the “bottom up” rather than from the top down. Clerks who deal daily with the public and hear excuses from “I lost the bill” to “I can’t pay the full amount because I don’t have the money now” were brought into the process and worked on the plan.

Ladouceur extolled the “can do” attitude of committee members who had to consider such issues as programming city computers to revising bills and notices to considering a plan for water shutoffs and how long it would take to restore service once payment was received. Purposely, there will be no shutoffs after Thursday afternoon, as the city would not want a property owner to go through the weekend without water if they pay their bill on Friday. There will be no shutoffs during the winter months (Nov. 1 to April 1) or in situations where amounts due are $300 or less, the mayor said. Restoration of service will occur within eight hours following full payment of the amount due in addition to a $100 reactivation fee. The program will take effect on Sept. 1

Ladouceur said the committee’s success is due to “the dedication and many contributions of its members, namely, William DePasquale, Bruce Keiser, Dan O’Rourke, David Olsen, Janine Burke, Chris Van Dijk, Chris Celeste, Kyla Jones, Mike St. Pierre, Joanne Cournoyer and Patti St. Amant.” He estimated the committee held about a dozen meetings before finalizing the program.

The new policy is twofold: the regular issuance of delinquency notices for accounts that are 60 days past due after quarterly utility tax bills are mailed in September, December, March and June. Ratepayers receiving the delinquency notice will have 15 days to bring payments current by cash, check, money order or credit card ($3.95 service charge for credit card payment) or to arrange for a payment plan with the Office of the Tax Collector. 

Those who fail to do so will within that timeframe be sent a water shutoff notice. At that time, water service could then be terminated within seven business days of the notice date. Those receiving water shutoff notices can pay by cash, cashier or certified check, money order or credit card ($3.95 charge for using a credit card). In the case of payment to avoid water shutoff, no personal checks will be accepted. 

Exceptions will be made in special circumstances in which a resident or owner cannot make a payment or payment arrangements and can document financial hardship. Those cases will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

“The longer we let someone owe the money, the harder it is going to be to collect,” said Ladouceur. And while anxious to expedite utility payments, Ladouceur told the mayor he wasn’t volunteering to collect checks.

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  • Reality

    Where would this city be without Fast Eddie ? The problems he's solving are monumental. Notice Fast Eddie has not addressed the $$$ Million dollar fire dept overtime every year. He has yet to weigh in on the unfunded healthcare obligation that is over $260 million. Hell will freeze over before Fast Eddie does anything about the $250 million unfunded retirement account.

    If you want a fluff doll, Fast Eddie is your man.Maybe the next commission he established can find a way for your leaves to decompose on your lawn so the city won't have to pick them up. That's how ridiculous Fast Eddie has gotten. Shovel sidewalks anyone......

    Friday, August 21, 2015 Report this

  • patientman

    It's a good idea. What about property tax bills. I missed a quarter once because I was travelling and just forgot about it. Remember we receive the bill in July and it gets put in the desk. When I remembered I was about 6-8 weeks late. The city waived the interest because it was the only time it happened. An email reminder or phone call shortly after the payment is late would help residents and get the cash to the city sooner.

    Friday, August 21, 2015 Report this