Iola City Council members will look at some, but not all, of the proposals proffered by Humanity House on how to change how the city charges customers for past-due utility bills.
Council members were mixed in their reactions Monday night to an appeal by Tracy Keagle and Georgia Masterson, founders of the non-profit, who asked the city consider allowing customers with past-due bills to make up their debt through either payment plans; changing the monthly due date for their bills; reducing late and utility reconnect fees; or eliminating fees associated with sending out subsequent notices.
Since its formation in 2017, Humanity House has helped roughly 1,000 families pay their utility bills, Keagle noted, to the tune of more than $40,000 annually.
“When I say ‘we,’ I mean the community that gives generously to us through private donations or in support of our fundraising efforts.”
She pointed to Iola’s impoverished demographic, with 21 percent of the population at or below federal poverty levels, and another 30 percent within 200 percent of those income levels: those who have jobs, “but do not make enough to live on,” she said. “That’s over half the community.”
“There’s a misconception that these people are lazy, or they’re paying late out of habit,” Keagle said. “Most of these people are the poorest and most vulnerable residents in town.”
The Council discussed each of the proposals separately.
Flexible due dates
Keagle posed an example: If a resident gets paid the third day of each month, could he set up a pact with the city to have his utility bill due two days later, even if his meter was read weeks earlier, thus reducing the burden of paying past-due fees.
Such a plan could be problematic, City Clerk Roxanne Hutton responded, noting it would entail meter readers to double back across the town if a customer wanted his meter read at a different time of the month.
“That’s also why we allow 42 days,” for a customer to pay his bill, Hutton said.
To be clear, Hutton’s time frame includes two weeks that include a 5% late fee, before a customer’s service is disconnected.
Council members Steve French, Gene Myrick, Kim Peterson and Nickolas Kinder suggested Hutton and City Administrator Sid Fleming investigate the matter further.
“I would like to see us look at some form of humanitarian effort,” said French, who shared the story of a relative who lives on a fixed income and receives a monthly disability check.
“I don’t think it’s breaking the bank to figure out what that would entail,” Kinder said.
Council member Ron Ballard was skeptical.
“It feels like if this is a road we’re going to go down, we’re going to kick ourselves later,” Ballard said, predicting such a maneuver would require the city to add staffing to handle the new system, including making the city’s meter reader position a full-time job.
Council member Carl Slaugh suggested the city’s 28-day grace period before late fees are incurred is too long, encouraging people to rack up delinquent bills.
