BAY CITY, MI - Utility customers in Bay City will see some billing changes as municipal operations begin to shift back to the pre-pandemic status quo.
The Bay City Commission approved a modified resolution on Monday, July 20, that reinstates credit card charges and e-check payment fees after they were waived in March as the COVID-19 pandemic caused all Bay City offices to close to the public. The resolution did not reinstate utility bill late fees, however.
Bay City was cited as a late mover in reinstating utility fees during the meeting. City Manager Dana Muscott said, “Throughout the state, everybody is already reinstated.”
Commissioner Rachelle Hilliker introduced a modification to the resolution that postponed the re-institution of penalties on delinquent utility bills until further notice. Hilliker’s motion to change the resolution was approved by the Commission 6-3, with Commissioners Brentt Brunner, Ed Clements, and Jesse Dockett casting the dissenting votes.
Dockett expressed his desire to see the late fees reinstated along with the electronic fees.
“We have already held off as long as everyone else and then some. I think this is something that’s unfortunate that we have to do it but we have to do it, and that CARES money can go to covering the bill,” he said.
According to Muscott, the elimination of the fees caused the city to shoulder the cost for online payment charges in excess of $60,000. An additional $100,000 in delinquent bill penalties was also waived by the City of Bay City, leading to a total of $160,000 in lost revenue,
The fees were originally removed during the pandemic to encourage the use of online payment options and to provide temporary financial relief to residents. The waived fees included a 2.5 - 2.7% fee the use of debit/credit cards as well as a $1 fee for e-check and e-savings payments for utility bills.
Muscott also explained that the City of Bay City will start the process for distributing $460,000 of federal CARES Act money to applicants with delinquent bills in the near future.
“That’s the easiest and quickest way to help our residents, is for them to apply for that CARES money,” she said.
The CARES money will be distributed through an application process, which includes documentation to show where the money is going in accordance with federal government regulations.
“We can’t give John Doe money directly, we have to pay those bills for him,” said Muscott. “Now we’re getting in the position where we are actually cutting checks to mortgage companies and to landlords and to Consumers and then to Bay City utilities. So red tape? Yes.”
Customers in Bay City have been racking up high bills, some of which that are skyrocketing into thousands of dollars, according to Muscott.
“We’ve had people throughout this whole ordeal that never made one payment nor did they contact us to help with any type of programs or payment plans, any of that,” she said. “And we reached out to everyone that had delinquent, we made phone calls, we did mailings to them, and we did not get a good response from that.”
Muscott said that there is no deadline for the CARES funding, but that she estimates that the full amount will be used up within a month’s time once distribution begins.
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Bay City Commission reinstates electronic utility payment fees but holds off on late fees - MLive.com
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