The Lake Zurich board voted to get rid of the three-day grace period for water and sewer bills, and residents and business owners will now have to pay late fees on bills that aren’t paid on time.
Michael Dubner, the village’s innovations director, said the grace period wasn’t mentioned on the bill, so few people knew it existed and, anyway, only a few people pay their bill late.
Still, one resident spoke at the Oct. 18 meeting during the public comment portion and said that mail delays could cost residents money. He opposed doing away with the grace period. He said he had a bill that was received late due to mail delays, but he had the late fee waived.
The measure on the Village Board agenda wasn’t intended to spark much debate. It was included as part of the consent agenda – where a collection of measures is considered with one vote, and usually without discussion.
However, after the resident complained about doing away with the grace period, Trustee Janice Gannon asked to pull that item from the consent agenda so the board could discuss it. Gannon suggested the board wait a year before killing the grace period, but Duebner seemed to allay any concerns other board members may have had.
He said maybe 7% of all accounts are late and maybe 2% are routinely late, so the grace period doesn’t apply to most customers. Duebner said since the grace period isn’t mentioned anywhere on the bill, it doesn’t make sense to offer it.
Duebner explained there are a variety of ways to pay the combination water and sewer bill: online, over the phone, in person or via mail. He said soon the village will offer electronic funds transfer, allowing payment directly from a bank account.
“I think we have accommodated everyone equally” and everyone should have to pay by the due date on the bill, he said.
However, Mayor Tom Poynton expressed concern for residents who struggle to pay that utility bill.
“If anyone has a difficult time paying that bill what would your advice be?” Poynton asked.
Duebel said to call the village.
“We’re not here to be punitive at all, and we want to work with residents and the businesses to pay all their bills on time,” he said.
Poynton said he couldn’t see what good waiting a year to do away with the grace period would be.
Trustee Jonathan Sprawka also said he didn’t see a problem getting everyone to pay their bill by the due date.
“We live in an electronic way of paying bills, whether it’s by phone or getting on a website. Its nonsensical that somebody, outside of a financial hardship, can’t pay their bill on time,” he said. “I have no interest whatsoever to extending this by a year.”
Gannon voted against killing the grace period, but five trustees agreed to do away with it.
Jesse Wright is a freelancer.
