Geneva offers one-time break on past-due utility bills, fines

Do you owe the city of Geneva some money on an old utility bill?

Never got around to paying a parking ticket?

You can get a substantial discount now, if you pay the bill in full by July 31.

The city is offering a 25 percent discount on bills incurred before March 1, 2018. Eligible bills are move-out final utility bills; parking fines; code fines; and false-alarm fines.

After July 31, you may be getting a call from a collection agency. Or the city may list you in the state's Local Debt Recovery Program. The state will then collect the money out of any state money you may be owed, such as lottery winnings, commercial payments or income-tax returns.

At the end of March, there were 284 utility accounts past due, the largest of which was a $15,504 bill for a commercial account closed March 3, 2017. The city charges 10 percent interest on overdue utility accounts.

There were 1,180 parking tickets, 17 code-compliance tickets and 19 false-alarm citations that were overdue.

As of Monday, there was $107,500 due for utilities, $78,500 for parking tickets, $6,450 for code violations and $1,000 in false-alarm fines.

For utility, code and alarm bills, the city also can record a lien on the property. The bill would have to be paid before any sale of the property could be closed.

For more information, visit geneva.il.us or call the finance division at (630) 232-0854.