Ordinance No. 762 was adopted on December 4, 1984 establishing the due date for electric bills on or before the 15th c the month for services rendered during the preceding month. All bills not paid by the 15th day of the month shall be assessed a penalty of ten percent (10%) on the unpaid balance. Prior to the date of this policy, for a penalty to be abated. the customer had to appear before council with their request. On October 1, 1991, the Governing Body decided to give the city clerk the authority to abate penalties on utility bills with some definite guidelines.
It is the purpose of this policy to clearly state those circumstances and frequency by which the city clerk may make the decision to abate the penalty assessed on a utility bill not paid by the due date.
The city clerk may abate the penalty on a utility bill when:
1. A customer is going to be away on vacation on the 15th of the month (or due date) if they notify City Hall in advance.
2. A customer who, with at least 12 months of history, has not been on the delinquency list during those 12 months, the penalty may be abated one time only in a two year period. Record of those penalties abated will be kept by the city clerk which will be an open public record.