LITH water cutoff begins on delinquent sewer bills

Gregory Harutunian
Customers with outstanding bills owed to the Lake In The Hills Sanitary District for sewer service may now face water service being disconnected to their properties as of May 18.

Customers with outstanding bills owed to the Lake In The Hills Sanitary District for sewer service may now face water service being disconnected to their properties as of May 18.

Customers with outstanding bills owed to the Lake In The Hills Sanitary District for sewer service may now face water service being disconnected to their properties as of May 18. It is part of an intergovernmental agreement, approved unanimously by the Village Board of Lake In The Hills, during its Feb. 27 meeting.

 

The action came at the district’s behest to help recover outstanding liabilities from its service base that have gone through the process of delinquent notice mailings, and phone attempts for collection. The state legislature authorized the water disconnection procedure through a public act in June 2004.

 

“My understanding is that it has taken effect, and once the process of notifications has been exhausted, our water department will be notified,” said Jennifer Clough, the village’s assistant administrator.

 

Rick Forner, the sanitary district’s manager, previously stated that an estimated $300,000 stood uncollected. Previous collection efforts involving notifications, forwarding to a collection agency, the filing of liens against the property and filing lawsuits for small claims court damages were not successful in recouping the owed amounts.

 

“Basically, the district takes the lead on this effort under the agreement between the village and the district,” said Village Finance Director Rich Hentschel. “The district identifies the delinquent property owners that have been duly notified, and the district will select the date to use the water department to shut off their service to the site.

 

“On the morning of the shut-off, they will give us a final list of property owners,” he said. “Using a district vehicle, a district worker will be accompanied by a water department engineer to the site, for the purpose of shutting off the water. Reconnection involves another set of fees.”

 

Restoring water service to the property, after the initial punitive shutoff, will cost $52.50 as a departmental assessment. Any further shutoff actions occurring from unpaid sewer service bills, within a two-year period from the initial event, will carry a $105 charge for reconnection.

 

The Lake In The Hills agreement came ahead of similar accords reached by the district with Crystal Lake and Huntley, which each contain approximately 700 properties. All three municipalities combined total more than 200 delinquent accounts, as part of its wastewater treatment service area extending west to Route 47 and north to Conley Road.

 

Boundary agreements also exist with Algonquin and Lakewood.

 

The district’s service territory was expanded nearly 20 years ago, after handling LITH customers only, before having the Northern Illinois Planning Commission approve the enlargement of its Federal Planning Area. The sanitary district has a wastewater treatment facility capable of effluent water intake of 4.5 million gallons per day.

Forner had said he was hopeful that the shut-off notice would get the attention of the homeowner, and that the disconnect action is something that could be avoided. He also noted that payment plans for the outstanding amounts can be arranged, as well as other possible resolutions, but that the state law has been exercised to enforce the debt collection.