Water wars continue between city and owners

The debate between North Las Vegas utilities officials and city landlords over who should pay delinquent water bills continues.

The city's municipal code makes it clear that property owners are liable for the recovery of any fees by the city should a tenant skip out on payment.

Improvements have been made to the system, including Internet access codes that allow property owners to check on the account status of their tenants.

But there's still a long way to go to become more efficient, according to department officials.

William Riggs, the department's financial manager, said there are times when the city is unable to turn off a past due account in a timely manner.

"From the time the meter is read until it can get shut off, it can be into the fourth month," Riggs said.

In those instances, the owner will not be held responsible for charges incurred after the time frame in which the city would have normally discontinued service.

Landlord John Zacharia, who owns three properties in the city, said he worries about the lag in time between reading and shut off.

Zacharia said a former tenant made a payment arrangement with the utilities department to pay half of the $150 deposit -- promising to pay the other $75 later. It was a deal he wasn't privy to, he said.

The tenant lived at his property for five months, never paying the water bill or keeping her promise to pay the other half of the deposit. Zacharia said he wasn't aware if city officials sent the tenant a letter demanding payment.

Then, a leak occurred between the time the tenant left until the city sent someone to shut off the meter. The meter, Zacharia said, also was shut off improperly, causing the water costs to skyrocket. The bill came to almost $1,100.

The city dropped the bill down to about $400 because the property owner hired a plumber to fix the leak.

"The guy who came out stuck a padlock in one of the (meter) holes rather than in both of them," Zacharia said. "When my plumber saw it, he almost fainted. He'd never seen such idiocy. These are the ones saying we can't drip (water) off into the street, and they don't even know how to turn off the water."

Zacharia added that the conduct of the department is "prehistoric."

"We're losing water, and we live in a desert," he said. "It's running down the sewer. They know about it but don't do anything about it."

The department won't hold someone responsible "for something that fell through on our side," Riggs said.

There are 81,000 meters in the department's service area with five people reading the meters. About 99 percent of the meters are automated, which means meter readers can drive around as a computer collects the information.

The North Las Vegas City Council approved waiving the hiring freeze May 18 to fill seven positions within the utilities department, which is expected to help ease the load, Riggs added.

When it comes to making payment arrangements with tenants, the department will only play ball if there is a benefit to the city, Riggs said.

That means the tenant must show proof of hardship and be able to make significant payments to the account -- for instance, if he is two or three months behind, he should be able to pay at least one month's worth to be considered eligible for a payment arrangement.

In the case of Zacharia's tenant, the owner would never pay for a deposit. The department calculates the bill and deducts the $150 deposit whether it was paid or not, Riggs added.

"If they miss an arrangement, (tenants) are told right up front they'll be shut off, and there won't be any more arrangements until they make the payment," Riggs said. "We'll work with them, but we won't give services for free. They've got to pay for it."

Contact Downtown and North Las Vegas View reporter Kristi Jourdan at kjourdan@viewnews.com or 383-0492.