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City proposes late fees on overdue accounts

Photo by Jill Schramm A sign next to a Minot Landfill entrance building indicates prices for dumping.

The City of Minot is proposing to charge late fees on overdue accounts while developing formal policies for extending credit to commercial haulers.

The Minot City Council, acting as the Committee of the Whole Wednesday, voted to recommend the city begin on April 1 to impose a monthly interest charge of 1.75 percent on all accounts, including commercial landfill accounts, that are more than 30 days past due. Also effective April 1, the proposal is to terminate any commercial landfill use privileges on accounts more than 60 days overdue. Reinstatement of privileges would require full payment of money due.

“If we are offering credit with the taxpayers’ money, we need to have the opportunity of getting that back with some interest,” Mayor Chuck Barney said.

Council members are interested in having city staff develop a formal credit agreement that landfill haulers would be asked to sign, pending development of a franchise arrangement.

City Manager Tom Barry said staff will seek to develop a uniform payment agreement that lists consequences for failure to pay.

Public Works Director Dan Jonasson said the city has 345 landfill accounts that it manages monthly during winter months. That rises to almost 700 accounts in the summer. However, about a dozen commercial haulers account for 90 percent of the business.

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