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July 13, 2012

Pressure from LGC starts Princeville turning off water

Staff Writer Calvin Adkins

TARBORO — PRINCEVILLE — The pressure that the Local Government Commission (LGC) placed on the Town of Princeville to get its finances in order has had an immediate affect on 31 percent of its water and sewer customers.   

On Wednesday, commissioner Ann Howell reported that approximately 240 water customers were on the cut-off list because of account delinquencies. Town workers began the cutoffs Thursday morning, two days after LGC issued a warning to the town and placed it on 14-day probation to comply with a list of stipulations in regards to its financial morass.

Before issuing the warning, LGC staff had repeatedly voiced concerns to the town about the mismanagement of its water and sewer fund and requested the town take actions to correct it.

Princeville water and sewer customers have had water bill problems for more than 10 years but recently, the problems have escalated.

One source of the problems could be traced to a payment plan that was setup by the town’s administration in April 2010, which allows customers who cannot pay their bills in full to make partial payments.

According to the town water and sewer billing document for September 2011, uncollected funds totaled more than $50,000. More than 50 customer bills ranged from $200 to more than $1,000 — including four customers who were billed a combined $5,000.

Mayor Priscilla Everette-Oates and commissioners Calvin Sherrod and Isabelle Purvis-Andrews voted for the policy while commissioners Ann Howell and Gwen Knight voted against it.

Thursday’s cutoffs were triggered by a report from LGC that the town water and sewer fund was more than $298,000 in the hole as of April 30. According to the report, the fund incurred a loss of $130,977 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2011.

The majority of those losses are likely to have stemmed from delinquent accounts and questionable collection practices.

Because of those deficiencies, LGC believes the town could default on a 2009 $310,700 loan/grant from the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

In an effort to prevent default of the loan, LGC urged the town to collect its uncollected water and sewer funds from customers and disconnect those who have not paid.

And that’s where more problems arise.

When 73-year-old Alice Bell got out of bed Thursday morning, she found, to her surprise, that her water had been turned off. Bell said she paid her water bill Monday and sent her granddaughter, Yolanda Hyman, to the town hall to inquire about the bill.

Hyman said that a staff member at the town hall handed her a sticky note to inform her that her grandmother owed $1,427.29. Bell said she did not receive a notice that her water would be disconnected.

Bell said that for as long as she could remember, she has paid $85 every month for her water bill. She said she can't recall the last time she has received a water bill and therefore she has been paying the same amount ($85) each month.

She was baffled by the cutoff.

"It's just not right. How did my bill get this high?" she asked. "I've been paying my water bill and nobody told me that I owed this kind of money. There's no way that I'm going to pay that kind of money. I'll go to jail before I pay it."

Sheritta Pittman's water was also disconnected.

Pittman said she was given the impression she owed $800 but when she inquired about her billing Thursday, it had ballooned to $950. She said the town had currently allowed her to use a payment plan. When she asked for another payment plan, she said a town employee, "talked ugly to me."   

A letter issued to the public by Everette-Oates, Sherrod, Purvis-Andrews, and Interim Town Manager Maggie Boyd, asked, "Why would the Local Government (LGC) allow Former Mayor (Delia) Perkins' Administration to borrow $310,700 for a loan/grant, when the town was in the red, according to the audit report. ..."

The letter also stated the water and sewer rate was increased under Perkins' administration.

Perkins denies the claim.

She said LGC recommended and approved the town for the $310,700 loan/grant to replace water meters and fire hydrants in the town.  

"That's a lie. If we were in the red, then LGC would not approved the loan," Perkins said. "We did not use the loan. If they thought it was a bad idea, they could have turned it back in when they came in office."

Pittman said she doesn't know exactly how she is going to resolve her problem and said she is disappointed in the town administration.

"It seems like a lot of stuff is going on in Princeville," she said. "It seems like the mayor, the town manager and the commissioners can't get along and the citizens are being affected by this mess."

Everette-Oates failed to respond to questions that were emailed and faxed. Additionally, she was notified by telephone of the timeline for replying to the questions, saying, “I haven’t had time to check my email. I’ve been real busy.”

 

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