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Bridgeport Borough Gets Aggressive Collecting Sewer Bills

By Brad Segall

BRIDGEPORT BOROUGH, Pa. (CBS) - A Montgomery County community is taking aggressive steps to try to collect hundreds of thousands of dollars in delinquent sewer bills.

Bridgeport Borough began its enhanced collection process about three weeks ago and Borough manager Don Curley says so far they've brought in more than $30,000 in outstanding fees, after sending out letters and legal notices.

"We can set up a payment plan. Council authorized payment plans. They set specific conditions on the plans so we're going to probably put about 30 residents on a payment plan."

But that's a far cry from what's owed -- about $600,000 in unpaid sewer bills, both residential and commercial.

Curley says they've targeted a dozen businesses that owe at least $1,000 for water shutoff if they don't pay up.

"Six hundred thousand dollars is huge. That's four police officers, full time, fully loaded. Our whole sewer budget -- you know we only collect about $1 million in sewer fees."

He says council has authorized payment plans with restrictions for residents who want to pay off their delinquent bills over time. Council began looking at the new collection process late last year as it began trying to balance the borough budget.

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