ATHOL – An attempt to implement a new monthly water and sewer bill system has led to unexpected delays.
At the suggestion of Public Works Director Dick Kilhart, the Selectboard voted in May to change from quarterly to monthly billing for water and sewer ratepayers. At the board’s meeting on Sept. 16, Chair Rebecca Bialecki explained why the change was made.
“One was to make it easier for people on a fixed income to pay, because it comes in a smaller amount,” she said.
However, this change has yet to go into effect. Assistant DPW Director Paul Raskevitz went before the board on Sept. 16 to explain that one reason for this was the departure of Treasurer/Collector Patrick McIntyre in July and the subsequent search for a replacement.
“He was a vital piece in that,” said Raskevitz. “So, we talked with our billing software people and it’s just coordinating to get everybody to do it; we haven’t done it, mostly due to the turnover.”
Town Manager Shaun Suhoski said that a new treasurer has been hired. He added that a new billing company is being sought, as the previous one that the town worked with went out of business, and it would be best to have that in place before monthly billing goes into effect.
Danna and Matthew Boughton, who live on Riverview Avenue, found that attempts to deal with issues surrounding a late bill payment could lead to unforeseen consequences.
“Coincidentally, we had an experience where we found ourselves surprisingly late on a bill due to an issue with the bank’s payment system,” said Danna Boughton. “We got our first letter in 38 years saying we were late on our payment. It came at a time when it was already two weeks past the date and it had a demand fee on it.”
She said her husband went to Town Hall to try to address the matter. As he waited in line, she said, he spoke with several people dealing with similar issues. He was told that he would need to pay the extra fee, plus interest, which went back to the previous month.
Danna Boughton said that moving to a monthly system could end up hurting some of the people the change is designed to help.
“We got a $10 fee, and if this happens to us again or if we’re late again, we could have the fees every single month instead of after a quarter,” she added. “And there’s also the interest rate. It seems there could be quite a few fees affecting people, especially those who are the least likely to be able to pay.”
Selectboard member Marc Maxwell said he has had several constituents ask if demand fees would be imposed each month.
“Maybe we could do a demand fee after something like 90 days,” said Raskevitz.
“That makes a lot more sense,” said Bialecki, “because people who are struggling to keep up monthly are going to have the hardest time trying to pay a late fee on top of their monthly bill.”
The issue of late fees would be straightened out by the time monthly billing gets underway, Suhoski said.
Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.