MONTICELLO – Residents of Monticello
are complaining about delinquent water bill penalties and they brought
their concern to the village board Tuesday night.
For some time now, the village has issued a $150 late fee for recipients to municipal water.
Mayor Douglas Solomon said although the penalties have been enforced previously, the complaints are starting to come to a head due to Monticello’s struggling economy.
“If you’re late a day, it’s a $150 fee; so, it could be excessive,” said Solomon. “You know, the economy, right here in Monticello, is not great. People are struggling and you can see it by the amount of people that show up at these meetings and voice their concerns over the fee.”
Much of the concern is due to confusion about the actual wording on the water bills and confusing language of the law itself which invokes the penalty. Village Manager David Sager said he and the village attorney are working on finding a way to adopt a new policy that is more explicit and fair to the taxpayers.
“What I’d like to see happen is the board review a new policy, something that’s clear, something that everyone can understand and we put it out to the public,” said Sager. “There’s just too many issues, there’s too many complaints and it’s not a well written or clear law.”
Sager said he hopes they can find a way to either make the delinquency period longer, or, have the penalty only apply to those who are frequently delinquent. He said he plans to have a proposal for the board by their next meeting in July.
The village board Tuesday night approved the 2015-16 annual budget, which will result in a 1.66 percent tax levy increase for residents, according to Solomon.
