While households in Lathrop will have plenty to juggle and worry about this holiday season, worrying about the water being turned off won’t be one of them.

This month the Lathrop City Council continued an annual tradition that has existed in Lathrop since 1996 – extending homeowners a courtesy around Christmastime of not disconnecting their home from city water if their account is delinquent.

Based on the way that the city usually conducts shutoffs for delinquent accounts, those that find themselves behind their payments for city water will essentially have an additional month to make payments or arrangements with the city to ensure that deliver of municipal water continues into the new year.

But that doesn’t mean that those who don’t pay during that month – or those who don’t make good on outstanding payments – aren’t without consequences.

The city will still apply a 10 percent late fee to all accounts that are not paid up by Dec. 31, and disconnections will continue in the middle of January for those who didn’t take advantage of the courtesy the month prior.

While the move will have limited immediate fiscal impact, the decision to not turn off water during the month of December can end up costing Lathrop more money by the end of the fiscal year if it leads to an increase in the number of customers that fail to pay their bill or an increase in the number of unpaid accounts that are sent to collections.

For additional information about the effort or other city programs aimed at helping residents struggling financially, visit the City of Lathrop’s website at www.ci.lathrop.ca.us.

To contact Bulletin reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com.