Late Monroe City utility bill deadline nearing
MONROE CITY, Mo. (WGEM) - After months of billing errors and confusion, the utility bills in Monroe City are finally getting back on track.
According to city administrator Tamitha Ague, issues like staff turnover, outdated equipment, and the transition from old meters to digital meters helped cause some city residents to be billed incorrectly.
Some residents saw their bills lower than the actual usage, other residents had their bills switched with nearby houses.
Ague said the city has taken several measures to help rectify this problem.
“We’ve been working on kind of streamlining what the process is for utilities, recognizing that some of our policies for the utility department are old and need to be updated, and making sure that our staff get trained... new and seasoned staff,” Ague said.
The utility companies themselves along with staff from the city of Palmyra, who are familiar with the newer utility systems, also came to the aid of Monroe City.
While the issues persisted, all late bill penalties were suspended.
Since billing is back on track, Ague said the deadline for any late billing balance has been set for later this month.
“We had shut off any penalties or shutoffs and we also discontinued any ACHs, or direct deposits, out of their accounts to our account for their utility bills and so those will return and begin on Nov. 27” Ague said.
Any outstanding balance to the city that is left after Nov. 27 will be drawn out of the residents’ accounts, with penalty shutoffs set to begin again.
Ague said she was thankful for everyone’s patience while the city fixed the problems.
She said the city council will look at potential revisions to the utility policies that need updating in the next several months.
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