Fillmore receives about $20,000 in 2017 lien payments

Tuesday, December 19, 2017

FILLMORE -- Fillmore Clerk-Treasurer Tom Gilson announced during the Fillmore Town Council’s December regular meeting that the town has received a total of $22,768.89 in 2017 lien payments, $10,429.35 of which was sewer lien settlements collected this fall by the county.

Remaining liens total $31,814.47, but Clerk-Treasurer Gilson said that with sheriff and commissioner’s sales the town will only be able to collect about $19,757.13 of that figure.

He also reported that water and sewer rates are set to increase this month by about 96 cents, making the minimum of any water and sewer bill $85.12 (0-1,000 gallons). As determined by a committee in 2014, the rates are set to increase again by about 99 cents in Nov. 2019 and then stop increasing.

In part the rates pay for water from Greencastle since the town does not have its own water and sewer system. On the advice of Mary Hoover, Rural Development Specialist of the USDA Rural Community Assistance Program (which manages the bonds), the town does not plan to install its own water and sewer system to avoid upkeep costs.

The rates also pay for bonds used to install, connect and repair the Fillmore system to the Greencastle system, but up to now information about the bonds has been fuzzy even for the town.

“All this information (the town) has been giving (the Banner) was hearsay,” Clerk-Treasurer Gilson said in an interview. “The only thing I can honestly tell you is that these are the numbers that matter and we’re totally up-to-date.”

Having found the relevant documents in the town’s files and met with USDA Rural Development Specialist Hoover, Gilson said that there have been three bonds, totaling $1.1 million and each at 4.5 percent interest: The first from 1999 for $292,000, and the second and third from 2004 for $656,400 and $127,965. Payments are set to go until 2039 and 2044, respectively.

At some point the town defaulted on the third bond and has since been required to establish reserve accounts for water, sewer and stormwater funds to prevent a second default. With the stormwater fund in the red, residents are seeing a $1 stormwater fee on their bills.

Although Town Council President C. J. Huller is optimistic that discussions with USDA Rural Development Specialist Hoover will allow the town to refinance, Clerk-Treasurer Gilson believes it is unlikely with the town’s accounts being in the black, but rather disorderly.

“We certainly have the money,” Clerk-Treasurer Gilson said, ”we just have to get it into the right account.”

Unpaid utility bills also affect the rates, and are a problem for more than just the town.

Bills are sent on the 20th of each month and are due on the 5th, with late fees beginning the 6th. State law mandates that residents be allowed to continue using utilities for 30 days before being shut off, bringing the total number of days between an overdue bill and shut off to 45 days. And, according to Fillmore Town ordinances, landlords are responsible for utility bills and late fees when the tenant fails to pay.

Tim Weiler and Eric York, two local property owners, came forward to express their concerns, but Clerk-Treasurer Gilson explained that late fees can be waived, and they can arrange to have their tenants’ services disconnected and set requirements for turning services back on. Both elected to do so.

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