City Launches Crackdown on Unpaid Utilities

You have to pay those light bills now. The legislature has passed a law making light and water bills a lien on the real estate and the city attorneys are also taking an interest in the light and water collections. Heretofore there have been no leaks. Some people whose bills exceeded their deposits have skipped out. Others have disputed as to who should pay the bill. Recently Assistant City Attorney Hatcham intercepted a woman who owed over $30 for light and had only a deposit of $10 up. She was ready to leave town that evening but she had to pay the light bill before she went. Yesterday the attorney secured a judgment against the Western Engineering company for $89 for light used in building the Sandberg block. The company claimed Sandberg should pay it and Sandberg said the contractor must settle and the thing ran on for nearly a year. Today citizens are being taxed up with penalties for failure to pay their light bills for last month. Every month many people let the bill run over the fifteenth and then have to pay 50 cents extra. There were over 100 delinquents today. All will have their light shut off and water stopped if they do not settle at once.