News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Over 900 Coookeville residents behind on their utility bills have until June 1 to pay them off before services are disconnected.
City Manager James Mills said payment plans can be catered to each customer’s needs.
“We don’t want to disconnect people, we want them to have the ability to, opportunity to, pay their bills,” Mills said. “We can’t continue this for an indefinite period, so June 1 will be the last day we’ll start disconnecting again. We’ve not disconnected since the first of March, so we’re going on three months of this.”
Mills said over $160,000 in overdue bills are owed. Over 700 are one month behind, over 200 are two months behind, and almost 50 are three months behind. He said normally about 100 customers are behind, but due to the pandemic that number has increased.
Customers must speak with utility personnel before June 1 to set up the payment plan. Mills said after the date, the department will tier the disconnection.
“We can only do so many [disconnections] at a time,” Mills said. “Based on surface areas, we have six different areas of the city, so we’ll start with one of those areas and continue each day until those who haven’t paid are disconnected.”
Notifications have been mailed to property owners and every utility customer. Mills said the department published notices on social media as well.
To contact the utility department visit their website.
