Posted on 11/27/2005 3:25:14 PM PST by MeneMeneTekelUpharsin
"I don't care how they shake the tree," Halterman said. "Electricity is electricity and sewer is sewer." Crowell re-examined the situation again last week, but what Halterman pointed out was nothing new to him. After two decades with the department, Crowell has seen a lot, but it took about a decade for someone to complain about this one. Here's the situation and how it developed. Halterman, 62, of King Avenue, was notified by the South Central Human Resource Agency on Oct. 3 that his application for energy assistance had been approved. Halterman suffers emphysema and for various reasons, he requested a federal supplement for his home energy costs. A benefit amount of $200 was forwarded to Shelbyville Power, Water & Sewerage Department. The $200 was credited to his account. When it came time to bill him, the total -- not just the amount for electricity -- was deducted from the $200.
Halterman was billed: $32.47 for power; $9.67 for water; $11.22 for sewer service; and 94-cents for tax. The total -- deducted from the federal funding of $200 -- left him with a credit of $145.70 in his account. "It should be used for one thing," Halterman said. Crowell thought so too about 10 years ago when he found out what was happening, but he soon realized there was more to it. It's an automated accounting problem stemming from the fact that Shelbyville's utility doesn't prepare its own bills. "We do our billing through Central Service Associates (CSA) of Tupelo, Miss.," Crowell said. CSA also bills distributors like Shelbyville Power and Duck River Electric Membership Corp. for the power they buy from the Tennessee Valley Authority, Crowell said. There's a dedicated line for computer connections between CSA and Shelbyville, he said.
The city utility has a terminal here to "talk" with the CSA computer. "CSA is up-grading from DOS," Crowell said. Simpler operating systems were common when computers had a mainframe, or a central processing unit, that served peripheral units such as so-called "dumb" terminals, printers and other connected equipment. Such hardware has long since been made obsolete by more modern technology. Crowell said the utility couldn't automatically separate the power, water and sewer components of the bill, which was a problem because only the power could be subsidized by this particular program. "We could (separate the bill) manually," Crowell said, "and we talked to the folks at the South Central Human Resource Agency."
That was a decade ago, he said. Since then, the system has proceeded as it did before. Congress appropriates money to the Low Income Heating and Energy Assistance Program (LI-HEAP) which is available nationally to people who qualify for help. Authorization of the program is being considered by Congress now as it works to assemble the fiscal year 2005-06 budget. LI-HEAP money is distributed to the states. Tennessee receives the money through the Department of Human Services and DHS has development district offices administer the program. The South Central Development District office is in Fayetteville. Shelbyville resident Cathey Hayes directs the LI-HEAP program at the development district office.
"We cover 13 counties," Hayes said. "We consider them (the utilities) the vendor and leave it up to their discretion on what to do. "I think this is possibly the first time we've ever had anyone complain about it," she said. "And I don't exactly know what we can do." Like others consulted about this situation, Hayes notes that the $200 Halterman received "will only supplement and not pay ... [the] entire home energy costs," according to the notification of approval he received. What's implied is that the supplement won't cover the entire cost of heating, so eventually the utility customer will have exhausted the federal funding and still pay more for electricity. Inotherwords, Halterman's winter heating bills will probably exceed $200. Halterman isn't swayed.
"What happens if you can't pay it?" he asked. "They shut your power off." He says he's "standing on the principle that the money is given for energy and that's what it should be used for." Hayes was pressed on how the system works and what happens as energy assistance applications switch from help for winter heating bills to help for summer cooling. People applying for assistance must show that they have an obligation to a utility, she said. "I saw bills ... for people who qualify for summer cooling [assistance] and they'd give proof of an energy burden, showing they had an obligation to pay, and what I was shown showed the payment was made on their behalf," Hayes said. Some of the bills she was handed showed "that there was a credit," she said. Without a specific review of the papers, it's impossible to say that any of the applicants had not exhausted their supplement before they would start receiving more assistance through another cycle of LI-HEAP. "I know the money is going to the right person," Hayes said. LI-HEAP assistance is made available to people who qualify for help, she said. A point system is used. "Priority points go to families with kids," Hayes said. "We have to deny people with lower scores." She said LI-HEAP has been "one of the things that Congress has been arguing about" and she endorses legislation to increase the program. U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Murfreesboro) concurs, but when asked about Halterman, he said it's probably a "unique" situation. Crowell estimated that there may be 50-75 utility customers in Shelbyville who benefit from LI-HEAP. Hayes said she believed Hohenwald and other utilities in the 13-county area also bill for electricity with water services.
Winchester has also had a water and power department. Gordon suggested that it's possible that the cost of separating the utility bills' services might exceed the benefit toward savings in a federal program, a factor that's frequently part of government oversight. "It may be an awkward way of doing it," he said, "but in the end, it works out the same for the individual and the taxpayer." In other words, the cost of fixing the problem may be greater than what's being lost. Faced with Halterman's situation, Crowell acknowledges the reality that electricity is not sewer service. He says Halterman's bill can be separated by hand and that Halterman can come to the utility office and pay for his water and sewer service by personal check, or cash. Halterman still has questions.
"What are you teaching your children -- that you can use the money given for one thing and spend it on another? "I must be wrong in the way I think," he said. "With everybody I've talked to, it's like 'Who really cares?'"
Maybe I misread the article - all I see is an honest person who requested and was approved for utility assistance that gets paid directly to the utility. I don't see where this gentleman is a welfare recipient.
Shelbyville? I wonder if this is happening in Springfield?
O c'mon now...are we goin' ta argue 'bout 'oos gettin' what? We've got a Onest man 'ere.
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