At Tuesday’s council meeting, Waco resident Carl Giles again raised concerns about the city’s shift from phone-call delinquency notices to door tags on overdue water accounts. Giles said he understands the city wants to motivate people to pay, but he’s worried the fees fall heaviest on certain neighborhoods.
“I’m not asking you to do away with the tag system," Giles said. "But the money generated from those tags is from low-income communities.”
He added that if those areas contribute the most, “we should receive a fair amount of services, which is not being done.”
Customer Engagement Director Lisa Tyler told council in a work session the new system provides a more reliable form of contact for water bills that are more than two months late.
“If we rely on a phone system, we have to hope we have the right phone number,” she told council. “But when we physically place that tag on your door, you know you’ve got something.”
With the current tagging system, a delinquent account receives a tag on the 45th day after a late bill and has two days to pay the bill before services are disconnected. Tyler said that’s usually enough time.
“Most people will come in the very next day,” she said.
And, Tyler said, less than 5% of accounts ever receive a tag. Fewer than 1% are actually disconnected.
Council members asked whether the city could soften the impact — by extending the time between tagging and shutoff, or exploring fee waivers. Assistant City Manager Ryan Holt said the staff would look into the suggestions.
“We made some notes, and we’ll get something back to you on all those,” he said.
Tyller also pointed to new features rolling out in January that let customers set their own bill reminders. She said they hope those alerts will help residents “keep from ever getting the tag.”
Got a tip? Email Molly-Jo Tilton at Molly-jo_tilton@baylor.edu.
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