Some county residents, businesses to receive letters from PSA

By MIKE WILLIAMS

The Patriot

Some county residents will soon be receiving letters from the Pulaski County Public Service Authority, following action taken by the PSA board at its last meeting June 14.

At that meeting, the PSA board decided to send out the letters as part of its routine audit/review of accounts – an effort the PSA’s Executive Director Jared Linkous says is to ensure that all residents are receiving a bill for the proper amount for the services they are provided.

The end goal being to make sure a fair and consistent rate can be maintained to all county residents.

Some people will receive a “Non-Customer Letter.” Copies of the letter will be sent to the property owner of record for all addressed buildings in the county that do not have a PSA account.

“In that letter we are asking that the owner contact us to confirm their status,” Linkous explained. “If we do not hear from them within 30 days, we will set up an account and begin billing for full service.”

That full service charge is $20 per month.

Some people will receive a “Low Volume Letter.” Those will go to all PSA customers that are currently signed up for low volume service.

In this letter, Linkous said the PSA is asking customers to contact them to update their documentation for low volume service, which he said means they set out one can of trash, or less, every two weeks and do not use the PSA’s Convenience Centers.

Again, the person receiving the letter has 30 days to respond or the PSA will begin billing them for full service.

The low volume rate per month is $13, while full service is $20.

Both letters will include documentation regarding the state and local codes and ordinances that grant the PSA the right to provide and collect for these services.

While this letter effort is part of the PSA’s attempt to make sure everyone has the right type of account and is being charged the proper amount for services, it is also an attempt to keep up with rising operational costs.

“Given the nature of the refuse collection service, fuel is a large percentage of our overall costs to operate and has a significant impact on our costs,” said Linkous. “As fuel prices continue to rise, so does our cost to provide this service.

“The PSA board recognizes the impact these rising costs are having on our citizens and did not want to raise rates on residential service this year. As an alternative the board has requested that staff review our records and make sure all citizens have accounts and that those accounts accurately represent the services received.

“We feel that this effort will allow us to maintain rates at the current amount, while our cost to operate increases,” Linkous said.