City puts teeth into talk about cutting off water

For years, other than for the occasional theft of service, the talk about cutting off someone's water in Bogalusa was just that ... all talk.

Until this past week.

After extending two drop-dead deadlines and after issuing a final set of pleas for delinquent customers to pay up, city crews hit the street on Tuesday and began disconnecting water.

By the end of business on Thursday, 288 customers had learned the hard way that the city finally meant what it said. Enough was finally enough. In addition to having to bring their bill current, customers who were disconnected must also pay a $25 reconnect fee.

With more than $150,000 in the 90-day delinquent account, there was little left for City Administrator Jerry Bailey to day — plus, he had the backing of the city council and his immediate boss, Mayor Charles Mizell.

Beginning last Monday, customers started beating a steady path to the city hall annex, sometimes being able to walk directly to the counter to pay up but more times than not, forced to wait in line as someone else tried to get caught up and avoid a dry tap.

And as word of the disconnects spread, more and more people came in to pay until more than $90,000 came into city coffers.

And while that's good news, there's still approximately $300,000 in water receivables that the city is trying to track down.

"People move from place to place and change the names on the accounts," Bailey said. "They may have it in one name at one place, then put it in another after they've run up a bill and moved.

Bailey said skips that can be located will be given the opportunity to pay their bill before the city begins legal action.