CAPE OFFICIALS PONDER POTENTIAL CHANGES IN WATER SHUT-OFF POLICY

The city of Cape Girardeau routinely shuts off water service to customers who are late on their bills that exceed $10.

But the city staff is reviewing the disconnection policy and hopes to report back to the City Council by Monday.

City Manager Michael Miller said most of the city's 14,900 customers pay their combined water, sewer and trash bills on time.

"In some cases, we have people who every month push the limit," he said.

Miller said residents should pay in person at City Hall if they are nearing the deadline for paying their bills.

If they mail their payment the day before the shut-off deadline, the payments won't be received in time. "We have to have it in hand the day before the cutoff is made," Miller said.

Customers, however, can drop off their payments in the mail slot at the rear of City Hall the night before the deadline and avoid having their water shut off.

Some councilmen have expressed concern about water disconnections. The city shut off water to a church recently over an $11.35 bill that was delinquent.

Only about 1 percent of the city's customers had their water service disconnected in October, said Mary Thompson, city collector.

That month, 2,119 residents received disconnect notices. But water was shut off to only 152 of those customers.

The city couldn't disconnect another 64 customers because the meters were inside homes or businesses and weren't accessible to water department personnel.

The rest of the customers who received disconnect notices in October paid their bills prior to the disconnect date.

Since 1992, the city has moved 954 water meters from inside to outside locations.

Tom Taggart, water system manager, said 26 percent of the city's utility customers, or 3,860 customers, still have water meters inside their homes and businesses.

Taggart said the city hopes to eventually move all the inside meters outside.

While the city's utility bills cover water, sewer and trash, the city's practice is to cut off only water service.

Cutting off sewer service would require crews to dig up the lines. If the city refused to collect trash from delinquent customers, the trash would pile up, Thompson said.

Cutting off water service is the most effective way to get customers to pay their bills, she said.

Here is how the billing system works:

Utility customers are billed each month. Bills are due 14 days after they were mailed by the city.

A bill is delinquent if it isn't paid within 21 days from the date the city mailed it.

When it becomes delinquent, the city adds a penalty charge amounting to 10 percent of the amount of the bill.

City ordinance only requires the city to give five working days' notice before shutting off the water. But in practice, a customer has at least 12 days after the account becomes delinquent before the city shuts off the water.

Thompson said customers whose accounts are delinquent are mailed two disconnect notices before the city ever turns off the water. The notices indicate when the water will be turned off.

The second notice is printed at the top of the customer's next bill.

Some customers, including the pastor of the Cape Family Worship Center, have said they didn't receive any disconnection notices. But city officials believe the postal service is reliable and that customers do receive the disconnect notices.

Taggart regularly mails his utility payment to City Hall. "I put mine in the mail and it has never fallen through yet," he said.

The city used to hang red tags on customers' doors in addition to sending them written notice warning them that water service would be disconnected if they didn't pay their bills.

But Taggart said even then some customers claimed they weren't notified.