Sacramento Coffers Missing $17 Million In Unpaid Water Bills

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - The city of Sacramento is missing millions of dollars from unpaid water bills. It adds up to a $17 million mistake.

Those are big bucks uncovered at a time the city is digging itself out of another huge deficit.

And here's one reason it's that high. If you don't pay your electricity bill, the lights go out. If you don't pay your water bill, don't worry about it. The water keeps flowing.

"That's correct," Department of Utilities chief Dave Brent said. "We have not had a policy of shutting off water."

Now, Sacramento is considering the policy that some other cities already have where water is shut off after three or four months of unpaid bills.

City leaders are just meeting about the auditor's findings and pushing for changes, including being "more aggressive in our collection process," Brent said.

Collections recovered nearly $2 million, or a little less than a dime for every dollar owed.

But city government watchdog Craig Powell questions the timing of it all, releasing information on a huge unpaid debt at the same time water rates will spike the next three years.

"There's no question that it's kind of insane to be raising rates when you're not doing everything you reasonably should be doing to collect the revenues you're already charging," he said.

Taxpayers are stuck picking up the tab for those refusing to pay and a city is unable to get what it's owed.

CBS13 asked Brent why people's rates should go up when Sacramento is not collecting debt.

"That's a good question," he said. "I don't have that answer."

The city of Sacramento is tapped out, suffering financial hydration and now looking for at least a trickle of relief by changing the way it runs its water business.