Spark of conflict —
Flood of overdue utility bills inundates city
ABOVE: Tammy Anderson had autility bill totals nearly $15,000. Anderson said she is unable to pay because of a disability. She recently negotiated with city officials to get her bill reduced to about $2000. BELOW: A door tag notifying the resident that their power has been shut off hangs at an apartment on Stagecoach Road. Recently the city has been collecting past due amounts on utility bills at a rate higher than the national average. [photos by Brian Leddy / Indepenedent]

By Kevin Killough
Staff writer

GALLUP —It seems that the U.S. Department of Health is paying off some of their overdue utility bill. Last January, the Independent reported the DOH as one of the prime offenders on the city’s list of delinquent utility accounts. At the time, the DOH owed $84,653. That total has since decreased to $60,780.

According to City Clerk Alfred Abeita, the problem with government accounts is often red tape. To some degree, the problem has been eased.

“They may receive the bill one day, but it may land on someone’s desk. If it’s not the right person who should receive the bill, it’s considered to have not been received,” Abeita said.

According to a collections representative, the city cuts off about 70 overdue customers weekly. The city recently wrote off $219,492.24 in delinquent accounts. This represented 0.81 percent of the city’s utility sales income, which is well under the industry average, according to the American Public Power Association.

Despite the ongoing collections efforts, some accounts that owe tens of thousands have not been paying their bills. The Navajo Shopping Center at 500 NW Gamerco had a total due of nearly $14,000 in January. Now, that has risen to just under $20,000. The Bureau of Indian Affairs in Fort Wingate owes $2,000 more than in January, for a total due of $36,619.

According to city records, Paul Carrillo owed $13,000 last January. The total has risen to over $16,000 now. Carrillo’s address is listed as 609 S Fifth. It’s a regular middle-class home with bulldogs in the front yard. Residential homes usually wouldn’t pull so much power, but according to Abeita, it does happen.

The city has to follow state regulations that don’t allow the city to cut off customers with certain medical conditions. Abeita couldn’t comment on specific accounts, but he said there have been cases where a family with an energy inefficient lifestyle or water leak has run up enormously high bills. But because they have a medical note from a doctor, the city cannot cut off their power.

“We try to do what we can do to collect on those accounts,” Abeita said.

In some cases, the city makes an error. Abeita said there are various causes for this, but it’s not common.

“The errors for overcharging ... have come down quite a bit,” he said.

Tammy Anderson said that she was overcharged by more than $12,000. She received a four-day cut off notice in June. At the time her bill was over $14,000. She lives in a three-bedroom home with her daughter. She doesn’t know how the mistake was made, but the city told her that she’d have to play $276 a month on top of current amounts or she was going to lose her power. Anderson lives on $424 month from Social Security benefits.

“I go to Wal-Mart and spend $50 to $100 on candles, because I’m afraid to turn on my lights,” Anderson said.
After enough pleading, the city finally reviewed her account and adjusted her bill, Anderson said. They reduced the bill to $2,000. She now pays $85 plus the current amount owed.

“I still don’t believe I owe that much, but I don’t want my lights cut off,” she said.

Anderson said she was afraid to make her story public, but she’s hoping that it will bring attention to the what she says is a problem for many others.

”If I come forward, maybe others will,” she says.