Town takes harder line
Woman says extension of four days wasn’t an unreasonable request for outstanding bill owed to Truro water utility
A Truro woman who was presented with a water shutoff notice feels she should have been allowed am extension of four days.
“I just feel cheated,” Lynn Thornton said. “I feel like there was no reasoning. I feel like the town office has just got to be desperate for cash if they’re taking this sort of approach on bills … I just couldn’t believe there was no negotiating.”
Thornton said she arrived home on June 18 to find a notice stating her water was scheduled for shutoff June 25.
At the time, Thornton was in arrears with the town’s water utility for $206.27.
That amount was the remaining balance on a $538 water bill she became responsible for after moving back into her Laurie Street home when her ex-husband moved out, Thornton said.
Although not living in the house while that debt was incurred, Thornton said she was informed by town staff she was responsible for repayment because the bill was tied to her civic address.
“And they refused to do anything at that time except negotiate a payment schedule that I had to pay because I reassumed possession of the matrimonial home.”
While acknowledging she is “not without fault,” Thornton believes she should have been given more consideration, given CP PHOTO she 9. had paid down the previous bill from $588 to $206.
Town CAO Mike Dolter said he could not speak on any specific case because of privacy. But he said the town has taken a firmer line in setting absolute deadlines on water and property tax bills because policy had been lacking.
“In the past — and, I will freely
admit this — in previous years we have not done a great job of collecting our bills,” Dolter said.
As an example, the last time the town issued water shut-off notices, they went to more than 350 households, he said. This time, there were 125 such notices.
“Unfortunately, because people have waited until the last minute, it does look like we’re being very heavy handed. But, unfortunately, we have to set a hard date,” he said, adding the practice is no different than other services such as with Nova Scotia Power.
“In fact, we have given you weeks if not months in most cases to have the bill paid,” Dolter said.
“Because we do recognize that, at given times, people are in different financial circumstances.
We’re not trying to be heavy handed but if you do come at the last minute and we have set a deadline, we do hold people to the deadline.”
In her discussions with several town staff members last week, Thornton said she only asked to be given an additional four days past the cutoff date until her payday on Friday and the bill would be paid in full. Instead, she was offered a “hardline” compromise of paying half the $206 amount by June 25 or the water shutoff order would proceed.
“What they told me was my account had been flagged as an account that pays late,” she said. “I’m not talking a lot of money here. I didn’t ask them for four months, I asked them for four days.”
To avoid having her water shut off, Thornton said she used money set aside for car fuel, groceries and other general living expenses.
And that has left her “flat broke” until payday, she said.
“I think that the humanity has completely disappeared here. I don’t know what or why they have chosen this hard line on bill collection.”
For anyone who does receive a shut-off notice, Dolter recommended calling the town office for payment arrangements to be made. But once that notice is issued, at least half of the amount will need to be paid by the shutoff date or taps will go dry.
“We don’t do that lightly,” he said. “We’re trying to be as fair as we can.”