City of Orange will change water deposit October 1
Orange will be revamping city deposits for water and sewer service beginning October 1. The deposit for service will go up from $100 to $125, but people who have service shut off won’t have to come up with an extra $100 deposit to have the service turned back on. The deposit will not be refunded until service is ended to the address. City Council agreed in a workshop to change the deposit system.
City Finance Director Gail English said if someone has service cut off, the policy has been to double the deposit to $200. The average customer pays $90 a month for water, sewer and garbage service on the same bill. When the service is turned off, the customer has to pay a $20 fee to have it turned back on plus a $5 late fee. English said if someone is having trouble paying $90, adding another $25 plus an extra $100 for a deposit makes them owe $215 and adds more hardship. In cases where the customer had a $100 deposit refunded, they would then have to pay $310 to reconnect the service.
“It kind of puts a lot of stress on them coming up” with the total amount, City Manager Dr. Shawn Oubre said.
For many years, the city has refunded the $100 deposit if a customer pays on time for 12 months. Under the upcoming policy, the city will keep the $125. English said the deposit should cover the costs the city absorbs when someone moves and leaves unpaid bills.
With the increase in the deposit, a customer who has service cut off will only be charged for the back bill plus the $20 fee.
District 2 Councilman Dr. Wayne Guidry works for the West Orange-Cove school district and pointed out that 91 percent of the students are considered in the poverty and Orange has a high level of poverty.
English said the city has about 7,000 customers and only about 1 percent of them have trouble paying bills. The city currently allows a customer to get two payment deadline extensions a year. The extension requests must be made in person at City Hall.
In addition, the city mails about 3,000 late notices each month. People receiving the notices are charged a $5 late fee. Those late fees add up to $15,000 a month.
Water-sewer customers will not have a rate increase for the 2015-16 budget year.
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