Petition opposes utility fee

Photo: Deborah Pfeiffer

Jean Mitchell is asking people to sign her petition

There was a good turnout Thursday for a petition signing organized by a Penticton senior at Nanaimo Square.

Jean Mitchell is circulating a petition opposing the city's plans to charge a $1 postage fee for mailed utility bills.

"When I read about it, I thought, oh no, being dinged a buck for postage is pretty petty, not just for seniors, but for many people who are low-income in the city and just managing to pay their power bill," she said.

The city recently announced that effective May 1, electrical customers who receive a hard-copy bill by mail will be required to pay a $1 postage fee. Customers who sign up for electronic billing will not have to pay the  fee.

This all came up when the postage fee was discussed by council as part of the 2015 budget process. Penticton has more than 17,400 electric utility customer accounts, meaning postage for monthly bills cost the city more than $183,000 last year.

"Postage is continually rising ... so we thought how do we mitigate these costs? Other utilities also charge for paper billing and most of them charge $2, so that's where we are coming from," said Mayor Andrew Jakubeit. 

For those who don't have a computer at home, the city suggests using the Penticton Public Library, which has five computers available for Internet browsing.

The city and library are also partnering to help residents increase their computer skills, with two sessions slated for May.

That is all well and good, said Mitchell, but she doesn't have a computer, doesn't like to do anything financial online and believes for many it is an inconvenience to have to go to the library.

She believes residents are being bullied into online payments when many may wish to receive bills via Canada Post and pay by their method of choice.

"I am a senior on a fixed income, and I think it's a stupid thing for the city to do to us," she said. "I know the mayor and many councillors, and I like them all, but I still think it's a low blow."

Mitchell said she started collecting signatures soon after learning about the postage fee and, as of Thursday, had 71, with more people lining up to sign at Nanaimo Square.

Those standing in line described the situation as unfair to seniors, people in the disabled community and families with low incomes.

"It's just the idiocy of this dollar thing they want to charge, or that you could go to the library and they will train you. That's baloney," said Alice DeRoche. "I think my son nailed it on the head when he said if you are not trained in using a computer, it doesn't matter which room you sit in."

Mitchell will continue her effort at different locations in the city, including Safeway and McDonald's.

She said she's not sure when she'll hand it over to the city.

Jakubeit said when residents come forward with petitions, council considers them, but $183,000 is a big nut to crack.

The library sessions are slated for 1 to 5 p.m. May 3 and from 5:30 to 7 p.m. May 13.