HARTFORD -- The Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) is proposing a way to make it easier for customers to pay their overdue water and sewer bills. Meanwhile, the MDC has adopted an aggressive program to recover overdue bills.

The MDC Water Bureau and Bureau of Public Works have scheduled a public hearing for 5:30 p.m., July 29, on a proposal to grant amnesty on interest charges on past due water and sewer user charge bills. The amnesty, which would last until July 1, 2003, would not excuse customers from paying the principal amount due on their bills, but would forgive any outstanding interest charges on bills that are currently past due. The MDC reminds customers that they are responsible for paying their bills or risk having their water shut off, having a lien placed against their property, or being taken to court for collection.

Under the current ordinances, water bill payments are due within one month of the date they are issued. An interest rate of 1% per month is applied to the amounts that remain outstanding for more than 30 days. If the MDC Board of Commissioners approves the ordinance change, the interest charge would be waived for all outstanding bills through July 1, 2003.

The MDC is making an aggressive effort, within the regulations of the Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control, to collect past due bills. Reminders of the MDC’s collection process are being included in all delinquent bills. With certain exceptions, customers who don’t pay their water bills risk having the water shut off. It will not be turned on again until all outstanding charges, including a $50 restoration fee, are paid. In some cases, the bills are turned over to attorneys for collection.

The MDC currently has about 1,700 delinquent water accounts with balances of more than $1,000. These accounts owe a total $4.6 million. In the past three years, the MDC has placed $4 million in property liens and, over the past five years, has referred $1 million in delinquent accounts to attorneys for collections.

The MDC will continue to work with customers to arrange payment terms for outstanding bills.

A non-profit municipal corporation chartered by the Connecticut General Assembly in 1929, the MDC supplies water and sewer services to its eight member municipalities: Bloomfield, East Hartford, Hartford, Newington, Rocky Hill, West Hartford, Wethersfield and Windsor. The MDC also supplies treated water to portions of Glastonbury, East Granby, South Windsor, Farmington and Portland.

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