Property tax deferral ends today, with outstanding bills set to be charged late penalties again.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant
The City of Medicine Hat is now issuing disconnection warnings as unpaid utility bills come up in the mailing cycle, but officials still stress that long-term payment plans are a way to avoid shutoffs and extra fees.
Meanwhile officials are stressing that accessing a $500,000 fund set aside by council to help the most desperate cases will require exploring all other options.
Denise Schmaltz, the city’s superintendent of collections, told the News that about 1,700 accounts that were outstanding on June 18 have been addressed, either by payment or entering a longer-term payment plan.
Still, about 5,200 accounts remain in arrears, and without action they will be formally contacted at the end of August.
“The preference is to work with our customers to clear up the arrears while avoiding disconnection and give every opportunity for support,” said Schmaltz, whose department is offering 12-month equal payment plan options to balance accounts.
“When customers are discussing options, if Community Warmth is one option, city collections (officials) will start that request.”
That process is meant to streamline what is expected to be a large increase in cases handled by the city’s relief program and jointly administered by the Salvation Army.
In a typical year, it has used about $20,000 in general donations to help settle bills based on personal circumstances.
A city council COVID relief package passed in early May set aside $500,000 in reserve funds to help buffer the effects of the slower economy.
“It’s all meant to move away from the deferral process … and we’ve tried to streamline the (application intake) process,” said Connie Dulle, who oversees the program for the Salvation Army.
The city joined Alberta’s other utility providers this spring offering a 90-day deferral program (halting late fees and disconnects) to help provide flexibility early on during the pandemic.
That ended June 18, and the 60-day period before unpaid bills typically move to disconnection process passed this week.
The city’s collections department states that 5,219 accounts, about 18 per cent of customer base, are in some stage of arrears.
That’s lower than the 6,900 customers that had unpaid amounts at highest point during the deferral period, but a total of about $2 million is still owed.
That is the same dollar figure reported in late June.
“The decrease is encouraging as customers are working hard at trying to meet their payment obligations,” said Schmaltz.
The city’s deferral program also included amounts owed for water, sewer and trash collection, whereas the province only mandated deferrals be offered by natural gas and electricity providers from April to June.
Town of Redcliff residents are city gas and power customers, but pay for municipal utilities through the town.
Redcliff council cancelled deferred amounts on consecutive utility bills (each comprising two months of service) up to April.
Officials with the town confirmed the due date to balance town utility accounts passed earlier in August. The amount of arrears was not notably larger than a typical month, the told the News on Thursday.
