Utility shut-offs get more expensive

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August 10, 2017 - 12:00 AM

LAHARPE — It will be a bit more costly for utility customers to have their service restored because of delinquent bills.
LaHarpe City Council members voted Wednesday to increase reconnection fees for electric and water customers who have had their services shut off.
As of Wednesday, getting service restored will cost $100 — $50 each for water and electric – which doubles the former fees.
As Mayor Mae Crowell noted, disconnections and reconnections have become a monthly ritual for many.
Last month alone, 17 such customers had their utilities shut off, only to have the customers promptly march down to City Hall to pay their bills within minutes of the disconnection.
Once that’s done, city crews must return to the residence to reconnect the electric and water meters.
“They say they can’t afford to pay their bills, but somehow they can afford the bills and reconnect fees,” Crowell said. “And it’s the same people, over and over again.”
Residents have until the 25th of each month to pay their bills, or their utilities are subject for disconnection. Then, the residents have three days to get their services turned back on, or they are evicted from their properties because of a city ordinance that bans residents from living in a property with no electric or water service.
City crews avoid turning off electricity for customers with health issues, such as if a customer relies on an oxygen machine. In those cases, only water service is disconnected, Crowell said.
The motion to approve the higher reconnection fees passed, 5-0.
In a related matter, Councilman Danny Ware asked the Council to consider decreasing the late fees for utility bill payers.
Customers have until the 10th day of each month to pay their bills without an added late fee. After that, a 10 percent surcharge is added.
Ware’s reasoning is to cater to residents who, for example, get paid on the 15th day of each month.
“This makes it a little easier for them,” Ware said.
The other Council members directed city staff to determine how much of a budgetary impact such a change would entail.

COUNCIL MEMBERS may consider ways to get property owners to pay past-due mowing or property tax bills.
A number of abandoned properties are mowed each month by the city, with the associated costs tacked onto the properties’ tax liens.
But that still leaves the city on the short end of the financial stick if those properties eventually are auctioned off in a tax sale.
“There’s no way we can recoup what it costs us,” Crowell said.
Councilman David Lee suggested the city reach out to some of the property owners, to determine if they’d be willing to relinquish the title to their properties to the city.
The drawback is that the city then would be responsible for maintaining — i.e. mowing — the properties.
“We mow them, anyway,” Crowell replied.
“We would have to be selective,” Lee continued, noting the city does not need to become a real estate broker.
“But if there’s ever a housing boom, we could have some properties to give away,” he noted.
And in a related matter, LaHarpe’s efforts in recent years to get properties back in accordance with city codes has made a marked difference in the town’s appearance, Lee said.
He recounted a conversation in which an out-of-towner complimented the city’s efforts.
“This is something we may not notice if we’re here every day,” Lee said, “but we are making a difference.”

THE COUNCIL agreed, 5-0, to treat county employees to a dinner once the county crews are done resurfacing several streets in downtown LaHarpe, as a token of the city’s appreciation.
County crews are grinding down several streets, and will resurface them with chip-seal materials.
The only cost to the city — aside from the meal — is to pay for the oil involved in the chip-seal.

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