Mills ordinance will file liens on properties with unpaid utility bills
CASPER — Property owners in Mills who fall behind on paying utility fees now risk the city filing a lien on their house or business.
Under the new ordinance, passed by the Mills City Council at its Tuesday meeting, the city will assert a lien onto any property with a utility bill that has been unpaid for 90 days.
Property owners failing to pay for water and sewer leaves “the city to adjust for the costs and which accordingly unfairly fall on the residents and property owners of the city,” according to the ordinance.
Bills are considered delinquent by the city if they are not paid within 30 days of the bill date, and penalty charges accrue after that point. Utility services are discontinued if it remains unpaid for 45 days.
The city will give 10 days’ notice in writing of intent to file a lien against the property.
Lisa Engebretson, owner and broker for Forefront Real Estate, told the Star-Tribune neither she nor bookkeeper Jessica Kizer had been notified of the outstanding utilities amount owed to the city.
Forefront Real Estate keeps all bills in its name, Engebreton said.
The real estate company has $117.89 in unpaid utilities across two accounts, according to a spreadsheet of unpaid utilities the city discussed at a December work session.
“We get the utility bills and everything, but if it tells us it’s past due, we pay the full past-due balance. Nobody’s ever received a letter or anything of any kind saying that we have an outstanding debt,” Engebretson said.
She added they have had issues getting bills in a timely manner from the city in the past and being told the bills were past due despite late delivery.
“I just feel like they should at least give us the courtesy of sending us some kind of notice of a late fee or email or something,” Engebretson said. “We’ve had no knowledge, otherwise it would have been taken care of a long time ago.”
Another business, 307 Diesel Performance LLC, was also not notified of its $234.33 in unpaid utility fees, owner Tyler Fitzhugh said.
“Everybody should have communicated a little better, I guess,” Fitzhugh said.
Other business accounts with outstanding utility fees in Mills that did not immediately respond to requests for comment include Loaf N Jug with $174.50, ACS Properties with $193.51, and $68 for Tewes Design Studio, which was located in Mills before moving to Casper.
Mills City Clerk Sarah Osborn was not immediately available to comment on the city’s procedure for notifying property owners about unpaid utility fees prior to the new ordinance.
This story was published on Feb. 26, 2026.