SILER CITY — The Siler City Board of Commissioners decided to resume water and sewer shut-offs for non-payment following the end of the moratorium on utility shut-offs issued by N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper in March.
Last week, the town had 360 accounts that were delinquent with residents in the arrears more than $73,000. Siler City Finance Director Tina Stroupe did note on Monday that the number of delinquent accounts had dropped in the past week to 284, but was not sure of the remaining amount due.
A majority of the delinquent accounts are residential, but Stroupe did say that some were commercial.
“We don’t want to shut people’s water off,” Stroupe said. “Especially since this is something none of us expected.”
Stroupe suggested the town institute a six-month payment plan for the outstanding accounts. Utility users who are behind on payments would need to make their current payments as well as sign up for the six-month plan. The amount that each account owes would be split equally among the six months with a monthly payment date agreed to by the customer. The Siler City Board of Commissioners agreed to the plan on Monday.
Stroupe did note that if customers do not make a payment or sign up for the payment plan, the town would begin conducting shut-offs to customers on Sept. 8.
Casey Mann can be reached at CaseyMann@Chathamnr.com.