Apr 09, 2020

City of Chadron utility disconnections due to COVID-19 disruption

Posted Apr 09, 2020 2:19 PM

By Gregory Yanker, City of Chadron Manager

On April 6th, at the regular meeting of the Chadron City Council, the Council discussed and took action on Temporary Suspension of Utility Disconnections for those that suffer a hardship due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The City will continue with all utility billing as normally scheduled including SWANN on its normal schedule. All utility payments are still due to the City on the 15th of each month.

If a customer has received a notice of disconnection and meets the following criteria, payment arrangements can be made with the City to temporarily suspend a utility disconnection.

1. The City will not disconnect any customer for the month of April and May under the following conditions:

a. The customer subject to a utility disconnection shall submit in writing a request to suspend the utility disconnection because of financial disruption to the customer’s personal or business income from COVID-19.

b. The Customer shall indicate briefly the nature of the disruption such as:

i. Loss of income from contracting COVID-19

ii. Loss of income from caring for family member or friend that has COVID-19

iii. Temporary or permanent loss of employment due to COVID-19

iv. Income loss due to social distancing

v. Loss of income from self-quarantine or self-isolation

vi. Other COVID-19 related reasons.

c. The Customer shall indicate in writing a commitment to a payment plan for unpaid utility bills.

d. The Customer acknowledges that in the absences of payment of the bill as prescribed in the agreed upon payment plan, services will be discontinued at the time specified in the agreed upon payment plan, but in no event until charges have been due and unpaid for at least 30 days.

2. The Customer indicates that they understand that providing false information to a public utility may subject the Customer to Criminal penalties.

3. All other provisions of the City of Chadron Municipal Code and all other ordinances shall be in full force and effect.

Please contact the City at 308-432-0505 or email [email protected] or [email protected] to discuss payment arrangements and options.