Philadelphia slips in collecting water bills

Philadelphia’s City Controller says the city is isn’t doing enough to collected unpaid water bills.
Controller Alan Butkovitz says the city is owed $132 million in unpaid water bills. He says – this is $12 million more than it was a year ago.

Philadelphia’s City Controller says the city is isn’t doing enough to collected unpaid water bills.

Controller Alan Butkovitz says the city is owed $132 million in unpaid water bills.  He says – this is $12 million more than it was a year ago.

Butkovitz says because of the city’s inability to improve collections, it’s good customers who pay their bills on time that are having to pay more.

Butkovitz: Over the last eight years the city was forced to raise water rates by 41%, because delinquent customers were not paying their bills and the Water Revenue Bureau was not aggressively collecting all the money owed for water services.

Butkovitz says the Revenue Department should get help from another agency, Philadelphia Gas Works, because it manages to collect 94% on its utility bills. The water department says it’s had problems collecting because its $50 million dollar billing system isn’t working properly and a city rule that prevents it from shutting off water on weekends.