HSUD to go after debt
The Holly Springs Board of Aldermen approved use of Municipal Intercept Company to go after approximately $700,000 dollars of bad debt, at the October 21 meeting of the mayor and board of aldermen.
Senior accountant Chawanna Harris, with the Holly Springs Utility Department, said the utility had $339,000 uncollectible debt last year and $374,000 this year from a total of 1,057 customers.
She said Municipal Intercept Company will charge 25 percent of the customer’s owed debt and go through the Mississippi Department of Revenue to collect the debt. The DOR will intercept the person’s state income tax refund to collect the debt.
The process is a way that members of the Mississippi Municipal League can collect debt owed to a city, debts such as court fines.
Harris said customers who owe HSUD will get a letter drafted by the Municipal Intercept Company to the customer’s last known address. The letter must be sent 45 days prior to December 15 to notify the customer the bill is being turned over to collections.
The debt will be collected through the city and when received will be passed through to the HSUD as a reimbursement, Harris said.
The board of aldermen unanimously approved Harris to serve as intercept coordinator on behalf of the city to work with Municipal Intercept Company to collect the debt.
In other HSUD related matters, the board heard a request for a motion to execute an agreement with Advanced Metering Systems to replace 2,000 faded meters.
HSUD general manager Wayne Jones said the company offered to replace those at $20 a meter.
Mayor Charles Terry remarked that Jones had asked to purchase 9,000 meters at the prior board meeting.
Jones said 2,000 old meters were found in house.
Alderman Jim Moore asked if there is another company that can replace the meters. City attorney John Keith Perry Jr. said Advanced Metering Systems is already under contract with the city.
The board unanimously approved the installation of the meters. Advanced Metering Systems will write software so the meters can be read manually with a hand-held device and the data be transferred to Central Services Association in Tupelo, that creates customer bills.
Jones informed the board that Chris Mitchell, a local power company rate consultant, could advise the city on HSUD’s rate structure. He said Mitchell is a rate consultant used by 98 percent of TVA’s 153 local power companies. He said a rate consultant is needed to help
figure out how to raise the electric rates only. The board of aldermen unanimously approved HSUD to seek an agreement with a rate consultant.
LED lighting proposal
Trey Bishop, with PATH, appeared before the board to propose an LED conversion program for the city.
He said the lights come on automatically when the sun sets and go off when the sun rises.
The LED lighting fixture has a 20-year warranty. The LEDs would only be installed by the city to save approximately half of the cost of energy to the city for lighting in downtown. Bishop said he tried to do a project with the city in 2021. He’s asking for a 12-month contract and would make a proposal using and RFQ.
Ward 1 alderman Sandra Hodges asked if these lights would be placed on poles in individual’s yards.
Alderman-at-large Dexter Shipp asked if Bishop could send a demonstration light to see how bright the lights fills the area. Bishop said the proposal is only for lights serving the city utility and city street lights and the city is billed for the lights. He said the lights will cost less for the city to operate its lighting.
No action was taken by the board of aldermen.