County commissioners and an advisory committee will look for solutions to the Union-Rome Sewer District’s revenue shortfall by turning to delinquent billpayers rather than rate increases.

Monday, April 03, 2000

County commissioners and an advisory committee will look for solutions to the Union-Rome Sewer District’s revenue shortfall by turning to delinquent billpayers rather than rate increases.

"The district is spending more than it’s taking in," commission president Bruce Trent said. "The anticipated revenue is there. It’s just the actual revenue is less because people are not paying their bills."

Those past due bills, recently estimated at nearly $100,000, leave the district with a continuously depleting carry-over balance, although it is in no danger of going into the red this year, sewer district officials said.

"I think the advisory committee feels like there is no way we can think about any type of rate structure change until past due bills are collected," Trent said.

"If everybody pays who is supposed to pay, then the system will be a lot healthier financially."

The key in forcing delinquent sewer customers to pay lies in state law, which allows collection of past due sewer bills through property taxes, Trent said.

Once district collection notices are ignored, the sewer bills are sent to the county auditor’s and treasurer’s offices where they are attached to property tax bills.

The Ohio Revised Code states such uncollected bills are considered a lien on the property and any payments made by the property owner are paid first toward unpaid sewer bills, according to a March 20 opinion from Lawrence County prosecutor J.B. Collier Jr.

The commission had requested the prosecutor’s opinion on methods available for bill collection.

It seems the tax bill method is the only one allowed by law, and that rules out several of the commission’s options, Trent said.

Also, a recent court decision allowed a delinquent property owner to separate the property taxes from the assessments against the property, sparking further concern from the county.

The court case occurred without the commission’s knowledge and it should not have ignored what is already written in state law, Trent said.

The county has asked representatives from the prosecutor’s office, the auditor’s and treasurer’s offices and others to attend Thursday’s commission meeting to address the issue.

"We want to go over how this case happened and we want to appeal," Trent said.

Collection methods start with attaching delinquent bills to the property taxes, and the county might consider putting property into a tax sale in order to collect, he added.

"If it’s not paid within one year, collect on the lien," Trent said.

Another option is cutting off sewer services to those who don’t pay their bill, he said.

"If they’re not paying us to treat their sewage, why should we accept their sewage in our lines?"

The Ohio Attorney General has allowed commissions to adopt cut-off rules, provided that the rules are consistent with state or Environmental Protection Agency regulations, Collier wrote in his opinion.

The commission should seek a specific EPA and attorney general opinion before taking such action, though, Collier wrote.

"We don’t want to have to go that far," Trent said.

But this commission is joining with the advisory board in taking the delinquent bill problem seriously, he said.

Advisory board members likely will address the delinquent bill collection process, both internally at the sewer district office and externally at the courthouse, Trent said.

The Union-Rome Sewer Advisory Board also plans to meet the first and third Mondays every month at 6:30 p.m. at the Fairland High School cafeteria, targeting the delinquent bill issue as its primary focus, he said.