Midway water customers who don't pay their bills promptly may no longer have to pay a $5 penalty, following a special City Council meeting on water policies tonight.
After the council discussed the matter, Mayor Grayson Vandegrift said he would probably eliminate the late fee for customers who don't pay within 10 days, but wanted to discuss it with Assistant City Clerk Sonya Conner, who deals more with customers.
Abolishing a bigger fee, $25 for reconnecting customers who have been cut off for nonpayment, would be up to the council because the fee is in an ordinance, Vandegrift said.
After the council heard that the fee is low compared to nearby water systems, there was no motion to drop the fee. And there was no discussion of ending the policy of cutting off customers who don't pay after 25 days -- the policy that prompted the discussion in the first place.
Council Member Logan Nance said in September that the city shouldn't cut off non-paying customers because "Clean water is a basic human right." But that idea got no support, and public debate was deferred. In starting tonight's discussion, Nance said he would like the council to address the fees and the "short grace period of 10 days" after which the late fee is assessed.
At least some council members were under the impression that water is cut off for nonpayment after 20 days, but Vandegrift said cutoffs begin on the 26th day unless that falls on a Friday or the weekend. He said water bills are mailed on the 28th or 29th of each month so customers will have them on the first of the month. People who are facing cutoffs and say they must have water for a baby or to deal with emergencies get reprieves unless they become repeaters, he said.
The mayor said the city doesn't track the number of cutoffs, but does track the number of customers who are put on the list to be cut off if they don't pay by the 25th of the month. In the last 11 months, that number has ranged from zero (in December, when "a good Samaritan" pays the overdue bills, he said) to 25 in June, with an average of 12. He said half of or more of those usually pay in time to avoid being cut off.
He said the city could extend the cutoff period, but it would need to be an extra month because of the monthly schedules that the water department follows. Council Member John Holloway said he checked with the Frankfort water system and "They found it's bad to let people go too long," because they get too far behind and can't catch up.
After Council Member Sara Hicks asked, "What is the moral responsibility of a municipality?" Vandegrift said the fees punish the poor more than the rich, and the best way to help the poor with water is to lower rates, which the city did after paying off its sewage-treatment plants, and wants to do by finding another wholesale water supplier. He noted that the city's water costs are not only for bulk water it buys from Kentucky-American Water Co., but include testing and maintenance.
After more discussion, the mayor said he was "inclined" to eliminate the late fee, which comes "probably from a time when the city needed the money." He added, "If we were to waive that $5 fee I don't think a whole lot would change."
Hicks said the city could make the change, monitor the effect and adjust in a year. Earlier, she suggested that rather than use the negative reinforcement of penalties, the city could exempt from penalties any customers who have a long record of paying on time.
Nance said as the discussion wound up, "Those are the kids of things we can do that really effect positive change in people's lives."
In other business, the council held first reading of a revised budget amendment, which had to be changed because of an error in the first version that got a first reading in December.
The council's next meeting will be at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 21, a day later than usual due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
After the council discussed the matter, Mayor Grayson Vandegrift said he would probably eliminate the late fee for customers who don't pay within 10 days, but wanted to discuss it with Assistant City Clerk Sonya Conner, who deals more with customers.
Abolishing a bigger fee, $25 for reconnecting customers who have been cut off for nonpayment, would be up to the council because the fee is in an ordinance, Vandegrift said.
After the council heard that the fee is low compared to nearby water systems, there was no motion to drop the fee. And there was no discussion of ending the policy of cutting off customers who don't pay after 25 days -- the policy that prompted the discussion in the first place.
Council Member Logan Nance said in September that the city shouldn't cut off non-paying customers because "Clean water is a basic human right." But that idea got no support, and public debate was deferred. In starting tonight's discussion, Nance said he would like the council to address the fees and the "short grace period of 10 days" after which the late fee is assessed.
At least some council members were under the impression that water is cut off for nonpayment after 20 days, but Vandegrift said cutoffs begin on the 26th day unless that falls on a Friday or the weekend. He said water bills are mailed on the 28th or 29th of each month so customers will have them on the first of the month. People who are facing cutoffs and say they must have water for a baby or to deal with emergencies get reprieves unless they become repeaters, he said.
The mayor said the city doesn't track the number of cutoffs, but does track the number of customers who are put on the list to be cut off if they don't pay by the 25th of the month. In the last 11 months, that number has ranged from zero (in December, when "a good Samaritan" pays the overdue bills, he said) to 25 in June, with an average of 12. He said half of or more of those usually pay in time to avoid being cut off.
He said the city could extend the cutoff period, but it would need to be an extra month because of the monthly schedules that the water department follows. Council Member John Holloway said he checked with the Frankfort water system and "They found it's bad to let people go too long," because they get too far behind and can't catch up.
After Council Member Sara Hicks asked, "What is the moral responsibility of a municipality?" Vandegrift said the fees punish the poor more than the rich, and the best way to help the poor with water is to lower rates, which the city did after paying off its sewage-treatment plants, and wants to do by finding another wholesale water supplier. He noted that the city's water costs are not only for bulk water it buys from Kentucky-American Water Co., but include testing and maintenance.
After more discussion, the mayor said he was "inclined" to eliminate the late fee, which comes "probably from a time when the city needed the money." He added, "If we were to waive that $5 fee I don't think a whole lot would change."
Hicks said the city could make the change, monitor the effect and adjust in a year. Earlier, she suggested that rather than use the negative reinforcement of penalties, the city could exempt from penalties any customers who have a long record of paying on time.
Nance said as the discussion wound up, "Those are the kids of things we can do that really effect positive change in people's lives."
In other business, the council held first reading of a revised budget amendment, which had to be changed because of an error in the first version that got a first reading in December.
The council's next meeting will be at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 21, a day later than usual due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
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