In what may be a sign of things to come in the post-Samuel Smith era, another Vance County resident appeared before the Henderson City Council on Monday night to complain about his monthly utility bill.
Brady Maddox, who lives outside the city limits on N.C. 39 Loop Road, uses well water but is connected to the city sewer system. Like anyone connected to city water, he pays sewer charges based on his water use, in Maddox’s case through a meter attached to his well.
Maddox said he doesn’t mind paying the sewer charges, and he understands that people outside the city have to pay more than Henderson residents. But after paying a $700 hookup fee and paying higher rates, he thinks he’s being improperly charged a monthly fee of $37.50 as an “outside sewer charge.”
“I’ve gone through the channels,” Maddox said. “This is where I’ve ended up.”
He estimated that in the nearly two decades he has been on the sewer system, he has paid more than $8,000 in such monthly charges. “I don’t think it’s fair.”
Mayor Clem Seifert said people outside the city are supposed to pay 2.5 times the rates for those inside the city, who, among other things, paid to build the wastewater plant and are facing a price of $30 million or more to replace the outdated facility.
After Maddox said his latest sewer bill was for $62.53, including the $37.50 outside service charge, Seifert said it sounded like he was paying the right amount. The mayor said the terminology might be the problem.
City Manager Eric Williams said he would refer Maddox to Finance Director Traig Neal, who oversees utility collections.
Neal wasn’t at Monday’s meeting, but he wrote in an e-mail message last week that he met with Maddox last month.
“He seems to be a very nice man, just concerned about the cost of outside sewer,” Neal wrote. He said there’s nothing he can do because Maddox is being charged the proper amount.
Maddox’s complaint did bring out an ominous warning for all city residents, however. Neal closed his message by writing, “Boy, he and all of Henderson is going to really be upset when they find out how much we are going to have to go up on sewer this year to balance the budget!”