Published: December 15, 2008 08:48 am      

Late bill collection slow for Jeffersonville sewer officials

Past-due collections remain a challenge

SO YOU KNOW

The percentage of Jeffersonville Billing Office accounts that are 90 days past due has changed little during the last half of 2008. They are:

• July: 48 percent

• August: 52 percent

• September: 47 percent

• October: 49 percent

• November: 46 percent

— Jeffersonville Sewer Billing Office

• • •

Despite a year’s efforts, collection of past-due sewer bills is still a challenge for Jeffersonville officials.

The number of delinquent accounts has fluctuated and is down slightly over the last six months of the year. However, Sewer Billing Office head Bill Mattingly said there’s been no significant collection improvements.

The dollar amount of past-due accounts has actually increased slightly, he said.

There are $665,000 worth of bills that are more than 90 days past due, he said. Additionally, liens have been placed on about $770,000 worth of bills — meaning that the city’s utility is owed more than $1 million.

The percentage of past-due accounts has improved slightly over the year, although that could be attributable to the fact that more than 1,000 new customers have been added to the rolls because of a recent annexation, Mattingly said.

In July, 48 percent of the utility’s accounts receivable were more than 90 days past due. That number worsened to 52 percent in August. It then went to 47 percent in September; 49 percent in October; and 46 percent in November.

Accounts receivable include all current and past customers of the utility.

About 16 percent of customers currently receiving service are more than 90 days behind on paying sewer bills, Mattingly noted. That money could be used for a number of projects, Mayor Tom Galligan said.

Money is needed for sewer expansions in the newly annexed areas, as well as efforts to clean up overflow issues being monitored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

For comparison sake, Clarksville’s sewer utility has about $280,000 in delinquent sewer bills owed and about 15 percent of its customers are past due, said Clarksville Clerk-Treasurer Gary Hall, who oversees the utility.

The interesting thing is that half of all Clarksville’s delinquent dollars come from Hamlet Apartments, located behind Green Tree Mall, Hall said.

In Clarksville, all of the bills owed have liens filed on them, he noted. Liens are filed every three months.

Clarksville is a smaller sewer department by comparison. It has 7,142 customers, while Jeffersonville has about 12,600.

Mattingly is hopeful that the November number is not an anomaly, but rather a result of recent publicity and new liens that have been filed.

“Collection activity is improving since we started filing liens,” he said.

“And it’s possible that people are just paying more attention to it now.”

The problem is a product of years of neglect, said Mattingly, who took over as manager of the sewer billing office earlier this year.

It’s compounded by the fact that the county hasn’t held a tax sale in a while, Mattingly noted, meaning that the liens cannot be collected until the property on which the lien is placed goes on the market.

And there are other factors to consider.

Landlords never paid attention to whether or not their tenants ever paid sewer bills, creating many of the past due bills, he said.

The Indiana Supreme Court weighed in on that matter earlier this year, saying that tenant sewer bills could be transferred into a landlord’s name.

“Now we’re getting their attention, too,” he said.

In the future, the practice will be to try and send letters to customers after they fall 60 days behind on payment. A lien would be filed after the customer falls 90 days behind, Mattingly said.

The city also is in negotiations with Indiana American Water Co., trying to make it so water can be shut off on any customer who falls behind on paying their bill.