Mayor wants to go after debtors for budget allocation

Selma, North Carolina, mayor Cheryl Oliver hopes to make up the budget difference that would result from a electric bill rate rollback by aggressively targeting delinquent debtors, the Selma News reports. Town council members have suggested a rate rollback for the town's electric customers, to be applied to the upcoming fiscal year budget. The proposed cutback would be 3.25 percent - the same amount the town increased in 2009. As a result, Selma would need to make up $116,000, which Oliver believes can be done by targeting the more than 1,200 past-due utility accounts that could owe more than $450,000. Most of the accounts are from those who  left the town still owing money. Last year, Selma was left "holding the bag" for $150,000 in unpaid utility bills, the news source explains. Oliver also recommended that the town charge companies a fee for power pole usage - between $8 and $15, producing about $10,000 per year. "This may be all pie in the sky," Oliver told the media outlet. "We want to look at the budget and see what falls off. Let's see what's real." According to the town website, the city's fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30.