Evening star., 1943-06-22

port brought this comment from
Senator McCarran:
The water system of the District
is in an archaic situation, and it
should not receive any appreciation
at the hands of this committee until
it is Strengthened out. To my way
of thinking, the system is unworthy
of city of this magnitude, especi-
ally since this city is the Capital of
the United States. But l do not
know that the fault can be laid any
where particularly at this time
think 1t is a subject that should be
studied and worked out and that an
entirely new system should be set
up here"
Maj. John Blake Gordon, director
OF sanitary engineering, advised the
committee that to 'modernize" the
registrars Office and its procedure
would require a very considerable"
increase in personnel. Request was
made at once for an office manager,
/
Specific charges made in the re-
port of the controller general were:
!, That the water registrar, r. L.
Hebbard, has not been bonded as
required by various statutes. The
Warren report brought out that the
! registrars Office receives and be-
comes responsible for public monies
since many remittances are ad-
/ dressed enormously to the registrar
/ instead Of to the tax collector and
since the collector sends to the reg
lStrar payments not accompanied by
bills and those not in agreement
with bills.
Some Remittances Upheld.
2. That in some instances incor-
rect remittances had been held up
in the registrars Office due to ques-
tions of correctness of the billings.
Four cases were listed.
The point was made that the law
requires that all revenues of the
District shall be collected by the COL
lector of taxes, who is required to
deposit the amounts daily with the
Treasury.
3. That records of the registrar
showed that sl28,000 in water bills
for the past fiscal year were Cancelled
and that, though records were in
complete, a sample indicated only
| about Is per cent had been rebilled,
leaving some 100000 of net cancella-
tions.
Change of occupancy was said to
account for about half of the net
! cancellations. The report criticized
the practice of holding only the oc-
cupant responsible for water rent
payment, adding: When an occu-
pant moves before payment very
little effort is made to follow up, and
usually the bill eventually is cam
celed"
Although a 1880 order of the
Commissioners required that water
service be cut off until bills are paid,
/ it was charged the Water Depart
ment had failed to follow this
policy.
Adjustments Questioned.
4. That adjustments of some
water bills were questionable as
being made without sufficient in
vestigation or in compliance with
rules laid down by the Commits
! Sioners
! AS to one case water user
claimed an $8729 bill was too high,
because of an invisible leak" and
was granted an adjustment when he
gave affidavit that repairs had been
made by a supposedly registered
plumber whose name and address
he did not know and could not To-
cate.
S. That during the fiscal years
1888 and 1899, some 25,OOO water
users who had not been provided
with water meters arbitrarily"
were taken off the fiat rate account,
! the lowest rate for which is $685. a
year, and placed on minimum 1915
a year billing; that since 1000 of
such accounts still are not metered
/ there is an indicated loss" of $780,
900 this fiscal year.
| 6. That numerous water pipes had
been laid to the property lines of
vacant lots, to avoid the later cut
ting of new street paving and that
in several instances" noted by the
auditors buildings later were erected
and water connections made to the
once-vacant lots without the
knowledge of the Water Depart
ment." Lack of periodic checkups
was blamed for this.
Delinquents Not Cut Off.
7. That much" revenue has been
lost because of failure to cut off
water service 80 days after bills are
payable and to keep the service shut
off until bills are paid, plus 81
penalty charge and costs" as re-
quired by Commissioners order.
8. That when complaints are re-
ceived of excessive" bills, the &C
counts are noted hold pending in
vestieation" though it may be
months or even year before inves-
tigation is completed. If, meanwhile,
a bill is issued for the ensuing year.
it is held up pending settlement of
the old bill
9. That approximately one-fourth
100000 of the total bills rendered
are mailed to approximately 5000
owners or their agents, some receiv-
ing as many as 300 bills, and that
many owners or their agents are
taking advantage of the procedure
under which only the tenant is held
responsible.
10. That considerable revenue had
been delayed if not lost because the
registrars Office did not know the
date swhen water service was begun
at new connections. because plumb
ers had not turned off the supply
after making tests of plumbing, as
required by the Plumbing Code.
II. That certain charitable insti-
~