The Wright City Board of Aldermen voted this month to waive late fees on some residents’ long overdue trash bills in an effort to collect the last of their payments owed to City Hall for trash …
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The Wright City Board of Aldermen voted this month to waive late fees on some residents’ long overdue trash bills in an effort to collect the last of their payments owed to City Hall for trash service.
Starting in March, Grace Hauling will be Wright City’s waste collector, and will bill residents directly. Previously, the city government billed residents and then paid one large sum to its trash hauler.
Aldermen voted 4-0 Feb. 11 to waive penalties on trash accounts that have been marked as shut off for non-payment since last April. That will allow those residents to pay a reduced amount to clear their bill. Aldermen said they hope making the past-due bills easier to pay will help residents get a fresh start with the new trash hauler.
The decision doesn’t affect all overdue accounts, only a subset that were particularly far behind and marked as not receiving trash service, city staff said.
City Administrator Jim Schuchmann said that if any residents don’t pay what they owe, that debt will be attached as a lien on their property.
“It may take until they sell the property, but we will collect this debt,” Schuchmann said.
Aldermen also voted to extend the grace period for City Hall’s final trash bill, which is due Feb. 26. Late fees will now be applied on April 1, rather than March 1.
On the issue of final trash bills, Wright City landlord Teresa Ellis came before the board of aldermen to protest overdue bills for two tenants who have amassed hundreds of dollars in late fees.
“Being the good landlord that I am, I came up here ... and paid out of my pocket $504.19,” to catch up the bills of the two tenants, Ellis said. But even with that, she said they still owed over $300 in late fees.
“You tell me how that is. Late fees and penalties? You’re a crook ... charging these people fees like this,” Ellis said, gesturing at the elected officials and particularly at the city administrator. She also accused the city of losing track of overpayments that she said should be credited to her personal trash service.
“I will not, and my tenants will not pay these fees,” Ellis said.
Ward 2 Alderman Ramiz Hakim engaged with Ellis and asked if they could meet to go through her bills and identify any issues. Hakim added that he doesn’t like how much the city had been charging for late fees, and might favor waiving part of the bills.
But after Ellis continued dispersions against the city’s policies and complained that the city administrator isn’t worth his salary, Hakim interrupted to defend the city staff.
“If you’re upset ... you need to be looking at the (aldermen), and not at the city employees. They have nothing to do with what they get paid or what the late fees are,” Hakim chided.
Hakim this week told The Record he’d briefly followed up with Ellis, but hadn’t yet been able to have a lengthier sit down.
“I had a conversation with her to validate her concerns and frustrations (about the bills), and let her know that I’m open to listening and helping her to rectify any issues,” Hakim said.
