(File photo/paNOW Staff)

By Alison Sandstrom

COVID's financial impact

Late fees and water shut-offs to resume Oct. 1

Sep 22, 2020 | 5:58 PM

Prince Albert residents with unpaid water bills could soon be at risk of having their water shut-off if they fail to contact the city to make a payment plan.

The city temporarily suspended water shut-offs for accounts in arrears in March in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking after Monday night’s council meeting, Mayor Greg Dionne told paNOW the city can’t afford to continue to let unpaid bills slide.

“When you see the figures coming forward [in a future report], you’ll see why I will not be agreeing not to shut the water-off,” Dionne said, adding that most of the accounts that haven’t paid their bills during the pandemic were already delinquent before COVID-19 arrived in Saskatchewan.

In April, city council voted to waive all late fees on utility accounts until Sept. 30 as a pandemic relief measure. In a Tuesday email to paNOW, the city explained with that date approaching, letters will be sent to overdue accounts asking them to either pay their bill in full or arrange a payment plan. If residents fail to contact the water department or repeatedly fail to make payments according to their payment plan their water could be shut off, the email continued.

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“All we’re asking them to do is come in for a payment plan,” Dionne said. “If you come in and say, ‘I can pay $40 a month,’ I’m fine. It’s just we can no longer take zero because you and me as taxpayers are going to pay that.”

Meanwhile at Monday night’s meeting, Coun. Terra Lennox-Zepp attempted to move a motion that the city refrain from shutting off water to homes with unpaid bills as long as Saskatchewan is under a provincial state of emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She failed to get the majority of votes required to have the motion heard immediately. Instead it will be discussed the next city council meeting on Oct. 13.

“In our community there are many people who are in poverty who have water bills that are unpaid,” she told paNOW on Tuesday.

“My concern is that during a pandemic we could be placing all of our health at risk by cutting off residential water,” she continued, adding that access to water for proper hygiene and hand washing is essential for preventing the spread of COVID-19.

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alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom