People seriously late on their sewer bills could soon find their water shut off, under a measure winning initial approval Friday.
The council passed the measure 8-0 on first reading, with Puna Councilman Zendo Kern absent. The bill was unchanged since the council last heard it in committee. That vote, on Oct. 14, resulted in a negative recommendation with five no votes and three yes votes.
Bill 194 has one more reading, likely on Nov. 19 at the West Hawaii Civic Center.
Hawaii County government is losing about $25,000 a month in unpaid sewer fees. Past-due bills have almost reached the $1 million mark, not counting the additional thousands the county has written off from years past.
The county currently can shut off water for past-due water bills, under a system controlled by the county Water Board. Sewer, however, is under the county Department of Environmental Management.
The bill requires the county to give a homeowner notice that the water will be shut off. The affected person has the right to appeal before the Environmental Management Commission, under the measure.
“We think that we will be fair in how we implement it,” said Bobby Jean Leithead Todd, director of the Department of Environmental Management. “We think we will be compassionate.”
Some people are charged a monthly sewer fee even if they are not hooked up to the sewer system. The county charges homeowners once a sewer line is installed to their property, even if they don’t hook it up.
Council members who had voted against the bill during committee held their noses and approved it Friday after being told the county had few options to collect money from people who just refused to pay. Shutting off sewer service just isn’t an option because of the potential health hazards, officials said.
“They have to have some incentive to come in and negotiate a payment plan,” said Hamakua Councilwoman Valerie Poindexter.
North Kona Councilwoman Karen Eoff said this issue has come before the council periodically since at least 1997. Previous councils have struggled with it but never passed it.
“Water is so important to health and safety,” said Eoff.
Ultimately Eoff voted with the majority.
“The humanitarian side of me doesn’t want to make things more difficult for those who are already struggling,” Eoff said. “But the logical side of me … I think we need to have some teeth in the law.”
Several members of the public testified against the measure.
Jerry Warren, of Naalehu, said the measure just didn’t make sense.
“Turning off one utility because someone didn’t pay another utility is strange,” Warren said.