City utility arrears top $6M during pandemic

It seems Saskatoon residents and businesses are doing a good job keeping up with their bills despite the hard economic times caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

As of June, utility arrears from commercial and residential customers in Saskatoon was around $6 million.

“We actually noticed a higher amount of payment than I expected to see,” said Mike Voth, the city’s director of corporate revenue.

“Folks that we actually see that aren’t paying tend to be commercial users, like the larger accounts. They are taking advantage of the deferral option.”

The city provided relief to ratepayers during the early days of the pandemic by allowing tax and bill payments to be deferred until Sept. 30.

Voth said there hasn’t been a formal request to extend the deadline.

The city typically bills $30 million to $35 million each month for water and power services. The $6-million figure is about double what the city sees in a typical year for accounts 29 days in arrears.

Voth noted an improvement this year when it comes to customers making arrangements with City Hall to clear up outstanding balances.

“The vast majority of that uncollected amount is what we would consider low risk because it is tagged to active payment arrangements,” he said.

“In a nutshell, we’re working with people. People have been great.”