Toledo to resume water shutoffs June 23; city outlines payment plans, outreach and thresholds

Director Doug Stevens, director of the City of Toledo Department of Public Utilities (DPU), told the Water Quality Committee on June 17 that the city will resume its water disconnection process beginning June 23 with mailed notifications and billing notices, followed by scheduled shutoffs for accounts that do not pay in full or enroll in a payment plan.

The move marks a return to active collections after a COVID-era moratorium and several years of work on the city’s advanced metering infrastructure (AMI). “We have not shut off for, at this point, a period of 5 years,” Stevens said, adding that the department paused disconnects during the AMI rollout and while the council-maintained moratorium was in effect.

City officials said the disconnection procedure will follow a stepped “dunning” schedule: billing reminders and late fees at lower thresholds, a formal disconnection letter for accounts that exceed the dunning threshold, a 10-day window after that letter, and then a scheduled shutoff with a 5-day door hanger placed at the property before crews return to disconnect service. Stevens said the department has not fixed the exact dollar threshold that will trigger that disconnection letter but offered an illustrative example of $1,000 and said the threshold will be adjusted over time as customers enroll in plans or are disconnected.

Why it matters: Toledo’s utilities carry large receivables and officials said it will take years to realize collections fully even after reconnecting customers. Stevens told the committee the water accounts receivable on the city’s monthly financial report showed roughly $23,000,000 in billed water receivables; under the city’s collectible-debt assumptions the department expects to realize roughly 65% of that (about $15,100,000). Similar calculations for sewer receivables reduce long-term collectible expectations; Stevens said collection of large balances often plays out over three to four years.

Payment-plan terms and reconnection rules

Stevens and other staff outlined the planned installment agreements and…