County Auditor Julie Fox appeared before the Plymouth Board of Public Works and Safety last week with a request to waive the late fees for their utility bills which were paid after the due date.
The county has five accounts with the city and the checks to pay on those accounts were postmarked on August 5th but didn’t arrive in the city office until August 8th, well after the due date. Because they were late the city ordinance requires a late fee to be added to each account. The total amount of the late fees was $636.13.
Fox said it was an “oversite” on behalf of the county. She also said the State Board of Accounts does not permit them to pay late fees.
City Clerk-Treasurer Lynn Gorski confirmed the State Board of Accounts determination and said the same holds true for the City of Plymouth. She also told the Board of Public Works and Safety that the county hasn’t been late on its payments going as far back to at least 2015.
There was a discussion with Board of Works members on having the County sign up for ACH to have the funds automatically withdrawn from their account each month for the utility service but the State Board of Accounts doesn’t permit that either. They are allowed to accept automatic payments but can’t participate in that type of service to pay their bills.
The Plymouth Board of Public Works and Safety approved the request to waive the late fees and County Auditor Julie Fox presented the five checks for payment of the accounts at the conclusion of the meeting.
