Editorial: Water bill glitches need to be fixed before shutoffs

Before putting unpaid water bills on residents’ property tax bills, the city of Belleville should make sure the bills are as accurate as possible.
There have been moves to get new water billing equipment and that should be completed before taking the drastic step of putting the unpaid bills on property tax rolls. The city council voted to do this at its last regular meeting, but we know they can delay putting it into effect until they are sure things are right.
Now the council has asked for more information on a policy to cut off water service if a bill isn’t paid in one or two cycles. The bills are sent every two months, so two cycles would be 120 days.
If there was confidence in the bills, that might sound reasonable.
At the Feb. 20 meeting, the city manager said a church had received a bill for $49,000 for one cycle and they had to figure that one out. We remember when Enrica’s shop on Main Street was billed for excess water use when it was completely closed for COVID. Checks by plumbers assured it wasn’t a leaky toilet.
The problem with the billing has been going on for some time.
There’s a $41,000 bill now for Loza Lane Mobile Home Park and it would be a train wreck for that water to be turned off, according to a councilman. Nothing’s been done about unpaid bills since COVID stopped shutoffs. The city needs to slow up.