Sacramento Seeking Millions In Unpaid Utility Bills

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - The list of people who owe the Department of Utilities is massive and the city may be coming after you for payment.

The department filed its annual report showing thousands of customers are delinquent on their payments.

Homeowners have late fees as low as $50 to companies owing as high as $59,000.

"The city doesn't want to shutoff someone's water. We try working with that customer to provide payment arrangements," said Rhea Serran, spokesperson for the department.

We hit the streets and folks we talked to were not happy. One man refused to go on camera, but says the fees are astronomical and he couldn't catch up.

But how much is that?

Turns out the customer has 15 days after the due date to pay up or get smacked with a 10 percent late charge, additionally a half a percent is added to that bill each month that it's late.

Serran said they'll work with the customer, but after 120 days the service can be shut off and you can end up with a lien on your property.

"We actually have the ability to shutdown someone's water if they're not paying for the service, but that's to an extreme point," she said.

The utilities department wasn't able to shutoff water in years past, so the bill would just keep adding up. Now workers can legally cut the water flow and ease the additional charges.

"It's $5 million now, but in years past it was $7 million, so there's that savings," Serran added.

The Department of Utilities will present the report to the city council Thursday, August 4th. Those delinquent customers could then be find through their annual property tax.