Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Collections topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
City turns 189 aged water accounts to collections, recovers about 9% so far
Summary
Marsh said staff turned 189 accounts (about $33,000) over to a collection agency through June and recovered roughly $2,964 (about 9% recovery) on accounts that were typically one year old; he suggested reviewing the sanitation recovery clause in the collection contract.
Tom Marsh described the city’s change in collections practice for water and sewer accounts: beginning in May 2025, staff began turning off accounts that had been inactive for roughly a year and turning those aged balances over to a collection agency.
"Through June, 189 accounts have been turned over, $33,000 worth, and here are the categories of what was in those bills," Marsh said. He reported recoveries of about $2,964.43 to date—just under 9% of the turned‑over balances—and told the council the sanitation component of bills (about 18.34% of those write‑offs) needs attention because sanitation costs are currently borne by the water billing arm.
Council members asked how long the city waits before turning accounts over; Marsh said typically about a year and noted there are reciprocal agreements with other utilities so outstanding balances can block new service in other cities. He recommended reviewing the contract with the collection firm when it comes up for renewal to ensure the sanitation losses are addressed.
No vote or contract change occurred at this meeting; staff flagged the contract for future review.
