GOVERNMENT: CAPE HAS NEW UTILITY PROCEDURES

Fido and Fluffy can try to get water and sewer service turned on in Cape Girardeau, but they're going to need photo identification and a signed contract first.

City officials are changing the procedure for getting city utility services turned on after too many disconnected customers called in to get service turned back on under false names, such as those of their children, parents, siblings and, sometimes, pets.

City Attorney Eric Cunningham said customers weren't dumb enough to use more traditional pet names, such as Fido or Fluffy, but if their cocker spaniel's name was John, they might try to pull it off.

"The people in customer service have even sat there and listened to customers make up Social Security numbers," Cunningham said. "While the policy had good motives to start with, the city has run into a number of problems."

Previously, customers could call in to the city's customer service office and request water or sewer service be turned on. The customer was not required to go to the office or sign a contract.

Under the new policy, customers will be required to go to the customer service office, present photo identification and sign a contract accepting liability for payment.

City Collector Mary Thompson said some customers who were turned off for nonpayment would call in under different names to try to get service resumed.

"With some customers, it got to where the girls in the office could tell by their voices who they were," she said.

Other times, she said, a family member would agree to get the service turned on in his or her name but then would deny any obligation to pay the mounting bills.

"Sometimes they might get a sister to get the bill put in her name," Thompson said. "But then the sister will call up and say, 'Well, I never lived there so I'm not paying the bill.'"

When bills are put into fake names, city attorneys often are at a loss to collect payment, Cunningham said.

"It's very difficult for the city to recover from a child or a dog," he said. "It's difficult to prove who set up the service to begin with."

The City of Jackson requires utility customers to come in to the office to get service turned on. Although no photo identification is required, the city does not accept telephone requests.

Alternatively, the City of Chaffee does accept requests over the telephone. Customers are not required to sign a contract, but they do have to make a $50 deposit.

Cunningham said the more the city has to spend trying to collect bad debts, the greater the chance water bills could go up to reflect that effort.

"If the city continues to lose money in that way, rates could go up, and nobody wants that," he said.