Forsyth's mayor says he never asked other city officials for special treatment when he fell six months behind on his city utilities bill.
John Howard told 13WMAZ's Judy Le Tuesday that he hit financial troubles this year after his daughter died of cancer and he lost his job as a hospital IT worker.
He said he was too proud to ask others for help. But some officials allowed him to go more than six months without paying his bill -- running up a balance of more than $1,900.
Howard said Tuesday that he wishes now they had simply shut off his water and electricity.
He said he raised $1,800 last week by reaching out to family and friends.
He said he is still out of work.
Last week, Forsyth's city council asked for an investigation of their utility billing due to alleged irregularities. They met with Mayor John Howard for nearly two hours last Monday.
City records show that Howard's name was on a city shutoff list for Nov. 13, but that someone wrote "disregard" next to his name, along with several others. His utilities were not shut off that day.
City records show that Howard made a utility payment in May then didn't make another until Monday, Nov. 25.
