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Contributed commentary by Montgomery County Commissioner David Shelton, District 21:

The Clarksville City Council is being asked to approve rate changes for Clarksville Gas & Water. There’s a lot to unpack, and I understand a need to adjust rates to keep up with costs. Here’s the part you need to know if you’re struggling financially: If this passes (on second reading) as is, the reconnection fees are going to be doubled starting July 1.

Since I’m a county commissioner, I have no sway over the City Council. So why speak out? Here’s why: My entire district (21) is inside the city limits and includes portions of Wards 6, 7 and 10. Two of those council members voted for the increase on the first reading. One did not.

So, here’s how this reactivation thing works. It’s a common thing across the state: When you cannot pay or forget to pay your water bill, you have a certain amount of time to pay it before it gets disconnected. You then have to reconnect your water, and here’s what you’d have to pay if you live elsewhere in the state if you pay during the day:

  • Knoxville: $40
  • Nashville: $60
  • Murfreesboro: $40
  • Jackson: $50
  • Memphis: $25
  • Springfield: $50
  • Chattanooga: $35
  • Clarksville: $50 – after July 1: $100

You read that right. If the City Council approves these changes, the reconnection fee for Clarksville Gas & Water will be $100 starting July 1. Let me be clear: There is absolutely no reason to gouge Clarksville residents for $100 to turn water on after nonpayment. Yes, I said gouge.

I have heard the explanation from Mark Riggins as he gave it to City Council. He explained that it takes two people and a truck to turn service back on. No matter how many employees, trucks or iPads are involved, it’s an absurdly high fee; especially when we look at other cities in the state. I couldn’t possibly care any less that it takes two people and a truck to turn water back on.

Sometimes people struggle

When we have more than 40% of all renters in Clarksville that are rent burdened (paying more than a third of their take-home pay on rent), it’s a struggle that many of us deal with every day. Justify it with numbers all you want. The remaining facts are that the people who have to pay it are people who are struggling. And in my view, that’s morally wrong.

I spoke with Mr. Riggins at length, and I am grateful that he took the time to explain the reasoning behind the increases. He also stated that nixing the cutoff fee increase would be “subsidizing” those fees, to which he was adamantly opposed. This, I explained, was a fundamental disagreement. After all, if we can’t consider “the least of these,” then we have left aside one of the greatest calls of good governance.

For the life of me, I can’t fathom why it’s so hard to imagine that people struggle. According to numbers from CGW, about 16,000 customers paid the reactivation fee in the last year.

Folks, let me share this tidbit: If a person can’t afford to pay their water bill, they are struggling. And demanding $100 to turn their water back on, plus their full bill, is just kicking them while they’re down. Doubling the reconnect fee is fleecing the very people that couldn’t afford their bill in the first place.

And if you can’t get away from work to pay your bill during the day, you will enjoy the added benefit of paying not $100, but $200! Plus the original bill, of course. Look, y’all. If someone can’t afford their water bill, a $100 reconnection fee is simply too high. And it doesn’t check with any of the major cities in Tennessee.

Solution: Allow flexibility

So, here’s a fix. Revise the ordinance. Nix the reactivation fee increases. Another option would be to allow payment arrangements. CDE Lightband, for example, allows customers to extend their final due date by two weeks, giving them a little more time to pay that bill. This is allowed twice a year. CGW could easily do the same, and dramatically cut down on both cutoffs and reactivations. As it is now, there’s no flexibility.

In fact, this policy could be implemented with whatever changes are needed, and we could hold off the fee increases to see if the reactivation numbers go down. You see, if someone is able to call the CGW office and make a payment arrangement for a week later, that water isn’t going to be cut off in the first place, and it’s one less reactivation fee that’s necessary. Basically, let’s solve the problem rather than monetize it.

Again, it’s about a focus on the customer, not the board room; something we in leadership tend to forget.

A final suggestion would be to spread the reactivation over three months, but that would only legitimize the higher fees, which are quite high enough already, thank you. This should be a last resort.

In the end, I have two principles in policy that I will always use to weigh every vote: Make it make sense. Don’t step on the little guy.

Please ask your council member to not put these fee increases on the backs of Clarksville residents that are already struggling. Let’s keep our residents that struggle forefront in our mind, so that we can all move forward together into the greatest years ahead for Clarksville and Montgomery County.

David W. Shelton

MORE: Clarksville Gas and Water to raise rates and fees following City Council approval