A Park Island resident can’t understand why the Village of Lake Orion has such a high penalty rate for late charges on water bills.
‘I feel the late fee of 10 percent is totally unreasonable,? Howard Daenzer told village council members at their meeting on Aug. 23.
Besides his residence, he owns four other pieces of property in the village.
Daenzer was late paying his water bills due to a vacation and his late charges were $90. And he wants some relief from paying that amount.
According to Daenzer, other communities were much less. He said Oxford charged 2.8 percent, Clarkston 5 percent, Rochester Hills 1.5 percent, Sterling Heights 5 percent and Milford 1 percent.
He told the council he would also like to see the due date on water bills be changed from the fourth of the month to the 15th.
‘This is entrapment. (The village’s) penalty is completely out of line. Other communities don’t penalize to that degree,? he added. He thinks a 2 percent late fee charge would be more reasonable.
The village buys its Detroit water from Orion Township.
‘The (Orion) township assesses a 10 percent fee. We have to pay that. It’s not fair to other taxpayers,? councilman Ken Van Portfliet said.
‘I don’t think the village wouldn’t pay on time if they didn’t get my payment,? Daenzer said.
According to LO Village Manager JoAnn Van Tassel, the village is billed monthly by the township.
‘We bill quarterly. So we pay township three months before we collect from residents,? she added. ‘We don’t make any profit on water. Our customers are paying for services and maintenance.?
Long-time councilman Douglas Dendel said the late charge rate used to be 1.5 percent and that wasn’t high enough. Customers deliberately didn’t pay on time and used that money to earn more interest somewhere else.
‘We changed it to get people to pay,? he added.
New councilman John Ranville agreed with Dendel. ‘People didn’t pay. They didn’t pay the bill until we came to shut the water off. (The higher rate) improved the system immensely,? the retired DPW director said.
LO Financial Director Jan Adams said the village allows people to prepay their water bills before they go on vacation and the money is applied to their account immediately.
Village attorney Gary Dovre told the council to leave the rates alone. ‘You already have in place relief for vacationers,? he added.
‘If we could get a better rate from the township, but if we can’t we have to pay equal,? councilman Harry Stephen said.
‘It’s very apparent the council doesn’t believe in the government of the people, by the people and for the people,? Daenzer said.