Since last month, Pennsylvania-American Water Company has collected approximately $40,000 in delinquent water and sewage bills from Bridgeville customers.
That’s good news, considering that as of March, Bridgeville’s water customers owed more than $80,000 in overdue bills.
But is that good enough?
In March, the borough asked the water company to begin collections action against any account owing more than $150.
However, an error in the water company’s billing system this month resulted in delayed bills and has borough officials currently unable to tell how much money is still owed.
Back when the borough handled water and sewage billing in-house, the running total for overdue bills was around $15,000. When any individual person owed more than $200, the borough would turn the account to collections and, if-needed, turn off service.
So Bridgeville officials weren’t thrilled when they learned that Pennsylvania-American, which now handles billing, let some Bridgeville accounts rack up $1,500 in unpaid bills.
“Over the past six months … it is always $80,000 or $90,000 outstanding, which the borough can’t afford,” borough manager Lori Collins told council last month.