by Carrie Moritz, Gazette
On Monday, March 1, the Garretson City Council gathered for their monthly meeting. The top pieces on the agenda were natural gas prices and the community center/city hall discussion, but other important items included moving the fireworks display and setting the date and time for the equalization meeting.
The meeting began with a request from City Finance Officer Anna Uhl to spread natural gas payments out over six or more months for customers, as the week-long price spike in February raised natural gas rates over four times the norm. This wreaked havoc for March's billing cycle, as customers saw their heating bills jump to over $600 or $800.
Initial estimates were gory, with the City being charged over eight times what was paid in January. The City ended up paying over $400,000 for the month of February. January's final bill was only $43,000.
This cost meant that individual Garretson natural gas customers are paying over four times what they paid in January.
And due to the cold, customers used far and above their normal amounts, substantially impacting their bill.
For January, small residential customers paid $0.95 per Ccf (100 cubic feet), which is the unit of cost the City of Garretson uses to bill its customers. For February, in-town small residential customers were billed at a rate of $4.16 per Ccf. Out of city limits residential customers were billed $4.20 per Ccf.
Receiving the final bill was painful for Garretson residents, and well above what many customers could pay in a single month. For instance, if a residential customer used 200 Ccf, their final bill for natural gas would be $832, which is $683.73 above what they paid in January for the same amount.
"I am proposing we have a 6-month payment plan above and beyond normal usage with an ok from the council to go longer if needed," said City Finance Officer Anna Uhl. She outlined how she intended to cancel auto withdrawal for the February payment, and allow customers to contact City Hall to set up how they would like to pay any excess.
"Some will just want to pay it all at once and be done with it," she said, "but others will need options."
If a customer contacts City Hall, is in good standing with the City, and makes good faith payments, she said, she wanted to be able to work with residents to go longer if necessary. She would start by charging the same amount for February that was billed for January, then split the excess across the next several bills without charging a late fee or any interest.
For the 200 Ccf user, this would be six payments of $113.96 above their normal monthly bill, which also includes charges for sewer, water, current natural gas usage, and branch pile.
"I don't think that we have a choice," said council member Jodi Gloe, on whether the council should approve Uhl's request.
"We're fortunate that we have the excess money to pay for it," said Council member Dave Bonte, referring to the City paying for the full amount up front and being able to even offer a payment plan. According to the council, other communities have been struggling to find ways to pay their final bill.
Members of the council first sought assurances that March, April, and May's natural gas bills wouldn't be higher than normal. Uhl noted that prices were already below what they were locked in at.
With that question answered, they approved the proposal unanimously.
More on the Garretson City Council in Part 2 - mailed subscriber or higher level account required to view
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