Saint John owed $5.2M in unpaid water bills

Saint John Water has sent out 437 water shut-off notices as part of its"aggressive collection program" for unpaid water bills.

The program hastargeted1,871 overdueaccounts since May, whichcollectively owe about $5.2 million to the city, according to a report by Gregory Yeomans, the city's finance commissioner

The accounts are both residential and non-residential.

Out of the 437 shut-off notices, about 80 per cent have resulted in payments or payment plans.

"As of yesterday, 136 people have paid,168 payments plans are in placeand another 47 people were put on pre-authorized debit," said Yeomans.

"It's a very high success rate."

Finance staff are working with 44 more overdue accounts.

If payments are made or a payment plan is agreed upon, that would boost the program'ssuccess rate to more than 90 per cent.

"It leads to the fact that people want to pay their billsand we want to work with them to enable them to pay their bills," said Yeomans.

Low-income residents suffering

While the program has prompted most people to pay their bills, the situation may not be so easy for low-income residents, saidMary LeSage, a part-time operations manager at People United in the Lower South End.

According to Yeomans,water rates have almost tripled since 2002.

When combining water bills withother living costs, those with low income or on social assistance maysuffer, said LeSage.

"Minimum wage hasn't gone up," she said.

"Cheques for the seniors, they're staying the same with a very minimal increase. We're still in the same boat. Their rent's going up, and there's just no balancing."

Even if a full payment isn't possible,LeSage said to at least try to arrange a payment planwith the city.

It's an idea echoed by Yeomans.

"We work with people if they're having any difficulty paying," said Yeomans.

"We'll work out payment plans. We do pre-authorized debit. We wantto help people paytheir bills of courseand we've always done that. It's justa little heightened awareness."