County regulations state that property owners shall be held responsible for water and/or sewer used on their premises. Statements may be mailed to another designated person (such as a tenant), but if that tenant does not pay, the property owner is held responsible.

The following processes and procedures regarding tenants and landlords applies:

Water and/or sewer bills are typically due at the end of each month. Should a tenant fail to pay on time, a past due notice shall be sent out to the tenant sometime the week following the due date. A copy of this past due notice shall be mailed to the landlord (property owner). If payment is not received within five business days, a shut-off notice is mailed to the tenant; with a copy furnished to the landlord (property owner). Should payment not be received, water shut-offs will occur sometime around the 20th of each month.

Water is then shut off until payment is made, in full. No payment plan will be accepted from a tenant unless the landlord (property owner) agrees to be a signator to the agreement/payment plan (you can download the form by clicking here).

Should the tenant be a sewer-only customer, our Department is able to lien unpaid sanitary sewer bills twice a year (February and August).

Another issue that frequently arises is when a tenant moves. When (and more importantly, if) a tenant contacts our Department for a final read, our customer service division reads the meter and a final bill is calculated. That final bill will be sent to the tenant during the next billing cycle, with a copy furnished to the landlord (property owner) if it becomes delinquent. It is the property owner's responsibility to insure that this bill has been paid prior to releasing any deposit to the tenant. GCSED will no longer send delinquent tenant's accounts to our collection agent. These collection efforts are costly and almost never result in payments.

Should the tenant leave without paying the final bill, the property owner is ultimately responsible. Unpaid water bills will result in termination of water service (which will remain off until the bill is paid in full) and unpaid sanitary sewer bills will be liened and collected with the property taxes.

Landlords/property owners can call our billing representatives to check on whether or not their tenants are current on the account. That feature is also available 24/7 on our website @ www.co.greene.oh.us/saneng/accts/sanitary_inq.asp

It is our objective to be as fair as possible in the administration of Greene County Board of Commissioners' policies relating to the Greater Greene-Little Miami Sewer District. Please keep in mind that every adjustment we make places the burden for this lost revenue on the rest of our customers. Our Department is funded solely by rates and charges from our customers. We receive no tax revenues.