"Tear it down"

We have an older home with a carport that has seen better days. So i wasn't real surprised when i got a notice from the City to tear it down. To save money i decided to tear down the carport myself, with the help of everybody i could get my hands on of course, and hire someone to haul it off. I searched the local newspaper and found several company's to do the job at a fair price. Everything was going great until they asked if i lived inside the City Limits. That's when i found out i had to use the company that the City of Cleburne has a contract with. I called the City to get everything set up, well with the price of there contracted company and a nominal fee for the City plus tax. The cost went from a doable $200 to a heart stopping $600 for the first day plus $100 for each additional day that we keep the dumpster. My hands were tied so i had to do this no matter what it cost. Here comes the fun part, the deposit is the $600 for the first day,paid in cash before they will deliver the dumpster. Any extra days will show up on your water bill the following month. I paid the $600, got my receipt, went home and waited for my dumpster to appear. Later the next day it was dropped off, fortunately they bill on full business day.The next day we tore down the carport and loaded it in the dumpster.The following morning i called the City to pick up the dumpster and stop further billing. We got it done in one day so it's paid for already, done deal, at least that is how it is supposed to work. When i got my water bill the following month it was also a notice of termination in ten days unless i paid the $600 for the dumpster service the previous month. So i took my receipt to the City to show them i have paid. They told me i did it wrong and that they had returned my $600 deposit and had to pay the water bill or be terminated. I told them they were wrong and had everybody that works there to come forward until i found the person i paid. Success, she cleared it up and i was on my way, until the next months bill came. Friends it took 6 months of taking my receipt to the City before they finally cleared it up. Hang on to those receipts!