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A new office policy regarding how late payments of the quarterly sewer/trash bills are handled will be voted on during Monday’s meeting. It’s a no-more-excuses Late Payment Forgiveness Policy that takes the decision of accepting or denying excuses away from the office staff.

If you think it is a bad policy, you can blame me for pursuing it. After raising the subject at two previous council meetings, it is now in writing, but will need a majority vote of Council to be put in place.

I’m hoping that it may provide an incentive to some residents who are habitually late, while encouraging all others to maintain on-time payments. It would also alleviate any possible perception that some residents are treated more favorably than others.

In the past, the former Council President, Kelly Gross, who also acted as the Borough Manager, charged the majority of residents the $20 late fee if they didn’t drop off their payment into the drop box by the start of business, the day following when the bill was due. That is, if the payment wasn’t left in the drop box before it was emptied the next morning, the fee would be imposed.

That was the existing policy, which hasn’t been officially changed. There is no actual policy for providing relief to residents who are occasionally late.

Looking back at what was discovered about her manipulating her own billing address, and reports that even she allowed a few she favored to get a pass, it wasn’t a payment policy that was set in stone for everyone equally.

In 2016 those who were hired as Borough Managers were given more leeway in waiving the $20 fee, but this presented a new problem.

What is a legitimate excuse for being late? Who should have the late fee waived and who shouldn’t, based on a sympathetic reason for not dropping off their payment on-time? How many excuses should be accepted by those who are late?

The decision making in who might get a pass on being late is too subjective. A resident who has never been late for 25 years might be imposed a fee because they had a simple lapse in memory, while another resident who has been late 10 times in 5 years might get a waiver because of a death in the family. Does the former reason get a waiver for one day, but not two? Does the latter reason garner the sympathy to give a pass for being two days late, but not three? How many excuses in what length of time are acceptable?

It is my desire to remove the burden of deciding when a fee is waived from the office personnel. I’m also not intent on being a hard ass about it. I’m seeking to make it fair to everyone while eliminating potential allegations of favoritism. Nobody is perfect and eventually all of us might forget to pay our bill by the day it is due, including getting it into the drop box that night.

My proposed policy is simple. Habitual late payers will see no benefit from the change, while residents who are seldom late will get the occasional waiver of a late fee.

Residents who have paid on-time (this still includes the drop-box before start of business the next morning) for 8 continuous quarters become eligible for a late fee waiver.

The eligibility entitles a resident to have the late fee waived if they pay their bill during business hours, the business day following the actual due date. This next day payment must be made at the payment window BEFORE close of business that day.

Following the waiving of the late fee the resident will then be required to pay on-time for another continuous 8 quarters to be eligible again for another waiver.

To put it simply, pay on time for two years and you become eligible to get an extra day to pay your bill without having to pay an extra $20 dollars for a late fee. There are no further forgiveness options for any reason if you go beyond the waiver time provided, or you do not qualify for a waiver.

The complete policy can be found HERE.