Last week members of the Plymouth Common Council had to decide on how to handle a utility customer who’s refused to pay a penalty.
Plymouth Clerk-Treasurer Lynn Gorski told the council that a utility customer acquired a late penalty in September 2022 after paying his water bill after the 11 a.m. deadline. The original penalty was $6.14. Since that time the penalty has continued to increase and is now $22.42.
Gorski said on November 6th the customer paid their regular monthly bill and continued to refuse to pay the penalty. At the end of the day, the Clerk’s Office had a $10 overage in the cash drawer. After reviewing the payments from the day, it was determined that the customer who has refused to pay the penalty for over a year had paid $10 over his monthly water bill that was due.
The Plymouth Clerk-Treasurer applied the $10 overage to the customer’s account leaving a $12.42 penalty still due. Gorski asked the City Council to either tell her to turn off the customer’s water for non-payment or write off the contested penalty.
During the council’s discussion, it was expressed that the utility customer had paid 5 late penalties since 2015 but now refused because he “doesn’t like government.” It was also learned that he was a tenant and not the property owner.
After further discussion, the City Council voted 4-1 to waive the remaining $12.42 balance. Don Ecker was the lone no-vote.
