City Tightens 'Grace Period' on Utility Payments

As of Jan. 1, 2019, the City of Sidney will no longer accept “Promise Notes.”

The city of Sidney announced this week there will be no more extensions on disconnect notices after that date. For years, the city has allowed customers who were unable to pay utility bills when due extra time to pay.

City utility bills are billed out 30 days after the services are used. Bills are due 15 days after the 30 day consumption usage. If the bill is not paid by the due date, a disconnect notice is sent out allowing a grace period of seven days less weekends and holidays to pay (an additional 7-10 days).

If the customer was unable to pay by the disconnect date, an extension or “promise note” allowed the customer an additional five days (requiring 20 percent of the total bill down) in addition to the 7-10 days to pay. That put the bill about 60 days behind.

There are no surrounding utility companies that offer an extension past the disconnect notice.

City Manager Ed Sadler said Wednesday the grace period was 20 days and reduced to five days before he arrived.

“We’d like you to pay your bill ontime,” Sadler said. “For those seriously in need, there are other avenues.”

The City is giving the residents a 69 day notice before its new policy goes into effect.