When the Hemphill City Council meets Tuesday night, they will again be deciding on whether to continue suspending the utility bill policy for late charges, credit card fees, and payment extensions.
Hemphill City Manager Lauren Morgan said that the city council’s members have decided that they want to re-address the issue each month. If the city council approves the measure, the utility bill policy for late charges, credit card fees, and payment installations will be suspended for the month of June.
Morgan said if the measure is approved, the City of Hemphill will not charge late fees or charges for credit/debit card payments during the month of June. She added they still want their utility customers to notify them if they want a payment extension.
During the meeting Tuesday night, Morgan will provide the city council members with spreadsheets that break down how much revenue the city has lost because of the decision to waive certain utility fees.
“The city council is trying to prevent people from being exposed to a disease,” Morgan said. “They’re trying to limit the times that people have to come into the city offices when they don’t have to.”
in a previous story, Morgan explained that because the town doesn’t have an ad valorem tax, it owns all of the utilities. Hemphill residents pay the city for their electricity, water, natural gas, trash, and sewer services.
Morgan said thee Hemphill City Council had several special meetings in March in addition to their regular meetings to address the COVID-19 situation. At one of those meetings, the city council voted to temporarily forego the city’s utility policies regarding payment extensions, late charges, disconnect fees, and credit card payment fees for April.
Before the city council voted to forego the policies, utility customers were only allowed one payment extension per quarter, Morgan said. The late fee was $30, and there was also a fee for using a credit card to make a payment.
Morgan said they thought it was only fair to waive the credit card payment fee because the city closed its office to the public and urged people to pay their utility bills over the phone or online.
Click here to view the agenda for Tuesday’s city council meeting.