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Okolona council agrees to repay $78,312.70 in pole‑attachment underbilling, to hire outside negotiator
Summary
After a regulatory assessment flagged underbilling of utility pole attachments, Okolona officials agreed to contract a negotiator and to apply $5,000 per month from election‑related in‑lieu revenues to repay $78,312.70 over roughly 15 months.
Okolona’s mayor and city council on May 5 reviewed a regulator’s assessment that the city’s election department underbilled utility lighting pole attachments beginning in 2022 and moved to resolve the shortfall.
“We underbilled … to the tune of $78,312.70,” the mayor said, citing the regulator’s finding. The council voted to contract consultant Greg Bender to negotiate updates to the city’s pole‑attachment agreements and to the attachment rate schedule as recommended by the assessment. The motion to contract the negotiator was made, seconded and adopted by voice vote.
The mayor recommended repaying the underbilling by applying $5,000 each month from the election department’s in‑lieu‑of‑tax revenues until the $78,312.70 is repaid, a plan the council reviewed during the meeting. The mayor estimated that at $5,000 per month the balance would be cleared in “about 15‑point‑something months.”
Council members were also told the regulator’s review includes a joint‑use or joint‑cost analysis to determine how staff time and shared assets are allocated across departments; the regulator asked the city to agree to perform a rates study if staffing or operational responsibilities change (for example, combining public works and the election department under a single manager).
The council approved the consultant contract and the repayment approach by voice votes. The record does not include a roll‑call tally for the votes.
What the transcript calls the regulator appears with inconsistent acronyms in the record; the council discussed that regulator’s findings and recommendations during the meeting but the transcript alternately uses variants such as “TBA” and “TVA.” Officials moved to secure a negotiating consultant and to notify the regulator as required if the city’s staffing or operational structure changes.
Next steps: staff will execute the contract with the consultant and apply the agreed monthly repayment from the specified revenue source until the amount is paid. The council also discussed the obligation to undertake a rates study if the city changes how its utilities or staff are organized.
