The Plymouth City Council members Monday night reviewed an agreement procedure between the City of Plymouth and a utility customer regarding a payment plan for delinquent bills due to COVID-19.
Clerk-Treasurer Jeanine Xaver proposed that the customer pay 25 percent of what is due and then on the fourth of each month pay the agreed amount plus the regular utility bill and a flat fee.
Xaver explained, “The agreement waives the penalties and administration fees as long as the agreement is kept. If the customers fails to make an agreed upon payment, the agreement is null and void, the waiver of the penalties stops, and the bill is due in full or the services will be disconnected.”
The entire amount of the bill would be paid back within six months.
Currently, there are past due bills totaling $7,688. Xaver said her office has sent out two mailings to those customers on how to get assistance with the bills.
Xaver noted that services cannot be disconnected under the current moratorium that is through mid-August.
City Attorney Sean Surrisi explained that the document looked acceptable and that Xaver had fashioned this agreement after getting information from similar agreements from other communities.
The city council unanimously approved an amendment to the proposal stating that a 20 percent initial payment be made with the rest of the terms described in the paperwork. The information will be given to those customers who would benefit from the payment plan for past due utility bills during COVID-19.
