Re.: (Fee structure for default electrical bills still to come, Penticton Western News, March 4).
I would like to tell my experience with city hall on this subject. I sold my house, to a new owner. We informed the billing department that our account should end by the end of the month. The new owner allowed us to clean the house after the end of the month.
While we are still packing the last things and cleaning the property on the first of the new month, a city crew arrived, wanting to cut of the power. We were not in arrears with the payments and neither was the new owner.
My spouse had to convince the city crew to leave the power connected, because a tenant also relied on the power. My spouse had to go to city hall and pay for the disconnect on our final bill, as well as $68 for reconnecting the power; even though the power was never disconnected.
It is city policy that unpaid bills are added to the property taxes. So, what is the rush to disconnect the power, while the new owner, tenant or landlord will pay from the first of the month anyway.
I never told the city to disconnect the power when I terminated my account. What reason was there to clean out my wallet and make it $100 lighter? In older days they called it highway robbery.
If the power is disconnected for a few days, the property is considered abandoned and one has problems with getting insurance. Technically speaking one would need an inspection of the whole property to confirm that everything is according to modern standard, if someone wants to occupy the property.
I guess I have given the city a new idea of how to extract some more loot from the traveling public.
Otto Sturhahn
Penticton