Tuesday, December 2, 2008
News Atlanta cuts-off water to homeless shelter
Posted by Andisheh Nouraee on Tue, Dec 2, 2008 at 9:36 PM
From the AJC:
Atlanta turned off the water to one of the city’s largest homeless shelters, the Task Force for the Homeless at Peachtree and Pine streets, on Tuesday for nonpayment.The Task Force for the Homeless describes the action as another tactic to close the shelter which housed 700 people on Monday night.
The city realized in September it had not billed the Task Force for the Homeless for sewer use since 2002 and it demanded a $16,000 payment to cover service for 12 months, Beaty and Ward said.
Maybe the Mayor can use some of the money from her
Comments (6)
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Hmmm On one hand, it is unreasonable of the water department to expect immediate payment due tho their screw up. On the other hand, it is foolish of an embattled entity like Peachtreee Pine to make such an obvious oversight. When people are out to get you, don't hand out bullets to put into their guns. BTW, I can confirm that the water billing system is FUBAR.
Atlanta once neglected to send me a bill for an entire year. I was a first-time homeowner and very foolishly assumed that the fat bill I received for sanitation must have included water and sewer. Not my smartest moment. Anyway, I got eventually a bill for nearly $600. I called the water billing people and spoke to a very nice person who agreed to allow me to pay the bill, interest-free, over six months. I haven't checked into the details, but I would hope the city would give the homeless shelter at least as long as they gave me. I know it's not welcomed by many of its neighbors, but Peachtree-Pine helps a lot of needy people.
The AJC story says the shelter has two water meters. One was turned off because the shelter owes $145,000 to the Water Dept. Now, the Water Dept turns off the second because the shelter owes $16,000. But even if they didn't owe $16,000 on that second, the water should've been shut off because of the still unpaid $145,000. You know i love to blame Shirley for stuff but the blame here seems to lie with the Task Force.
And while the Task Force helps many needy people every day, so do dozens of other organizations across the city who pay their water bill. Based on the facts as they're told, this is a pretty simple case. Past animosity with the city or county didn't run up a $145,000 water bill and is no excuse not to pay. The Task Force has some wealthy benefactors and now's the time for them to step up.
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