PWSA has $32 mln in unpaid accounts (Pittsburgh, Liberty: 2015, house, transfer)

[tyovan4]

Broken water meters and billing disputes have ballooned into a more than $30 million problem for the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority.

The authority had $32.3 million in unpaid water and sewer bills on its books. But it won't collect the money or shut off accounts until it figures out what the almost 45,000 delinquent residential and commercial accounts owe on water or sewer payments or both, said Kent Lindsay, the authority's finance director.

Pittsburgh water authority set back $32M by unpaid accounts | TribLIVE

I remember SCR was having problems with his water bill a few months ago. Seems he's not the only one!
It seems PWSA is as competent as the rest of city government..

[erieguy]

Originally Posted by tyovan4

I remember SCR was having problems with his water bill a few months ago. Seems he's not the only one!
It seems PWSA is as competent as the rest of city government..

True dat. The debt and incompetence comes as no surprise...but it's shameful that those in charge stay in charge. Anybody outside of a government job would be terminated.

[UKyank]

I received no water bill from July-December then received 6 in the same envelope in December

[erieguy]

Originally Posted by UKyank

I received no water bill from July-December then received 6 in the same envelope in December

Probably just got back from a 6 month hiatus/vacation.

[sskink]

Originally Posted by tyovan4

I remember SCR was having problems with his water bill a few months ago. Seems he's not the only one!
It seems PWSA is as competent as the rest of city government..

Less competent than government, at least Pittsburgh government.

My soon-to-be-former employer has not had a meter reading since August 2014. Every bill since then has been an estimate. As we're closing the account shortly, PGH2O is now giving us an "estimate" on actual usage that is several times our regular monthly bill.

I was told by more than one PGH2O rep to simply appeal the bill when we do receive it. An appeal is automatically considered when a business (or consumer) has not had an actual meter reading for more than a year. In those cases, typically 50% of the bill is forgiven.

That's just nuts. It doesn't provide cost certainty for businesses or consumers, nor should it be that difficult to do a meter reading. It's never been a problem in any other city or state I've lived or worked in.

[jea6321]

Ask any realtor in pittsburgh or anyone who bought or sold a house in the past two years how bad PWSA is. They have screwed up the final bills and the transfer of responsibility on almost every transaction I did in 2015. The way they operate boggles my mind.

[Tinare]

Their billing system is all screwed up. They changed meters at some point in the spring and I didn't get a bill all summer and then got one in the fall which said that I could make partial payments through December if I wanted to since they hadn't billed me, but it wasn't that much, so I paid it. I haven't received a bill since.

[gg]

No issues out in this suburb. We are lucky to have our own water authority though. Likely all bills are paid on time out this way. That is one really bad thing about the city. The amount of poverty just makes it hard to keep everything going. I am hoping things turn around when East Liberty changes into something a little better. That should help in the money department with the big 3% wage tax money. We can only hope for city residents.

[WhoIsStanwix?]

Originally Posted by gg

No issues out in this suburb. We are lucky to have our own water authority though. Likely all bills are paid on time out this way. That is one really bad thing about the city. The amount of poverty just makes it hard to keep everything going. I am hoping things turn around when East Liberty changes into something a little better. That should help in the money department with the big 3% wage tax money. We can only hope for city residents.

You do realize this is not an issue of people not paying their bills, but one of incompetence by an authority that has not been properly billing or sending out bills at all in many cases, right? But it's ok, because poverty. Poverty is always the issue if you live in the city. The deadbeats aren't paying their bills that aren't being sent to them.

[PghYinzer]

Same issues, even though I have PWSA for sewer but not water, as Brookline is served by Penn American Water. I got a bill in April for the normal amount, then nothing until October when I had to pay six months at one time, then one bill arrived normally for November, and now nothing again. The six month bill was correct, so mine is not an issue with the wrong amount, just that I never get a bill.