AVON PARK - If you've been putting off your water bill, you'll literally pay for the delay after the city council voted 3-2 to start charging late fees.
Water customers who do not pay by 2 p.m. on the bill's due date will have to pay five percent of the overdue amount, or $1, whichever is greater.
City Manager Sarah Adelt said an average of 14 percent of the city's water customers make late payments, and from them she expects more than $4,300 in extra revenue.
Council members Brenda Gray and Al Joe Hinson opposed the fees, saying it would hurt people on fixed incomes during the sluggish economy. Gray added that she received several complaints about the proposal, including one from a person on a fixed income that gets paid the third week of each month.
"I just feel we will be adding a burden to our people," Gray said, later adding, "Is the water company in dire need of money?"
Joe Wright and Mayor Sharon Schuler countered the late fees would protect the other 86 percent who pay their bills on time, including those on fixed incomes that Schuler said were among them.
The new penalties will begin showing up in the next billing cycle.
Check back for updates.
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