LATROBE, Pa. — Almost 150 residents of Latrobe received sewage bills two months after the due date because of a post office delay.
Sean Grosso made a trip Wednesday to the Latrobe Municipal Authority to pay his water and sewage bill. It was due more than two months ago on February 15. He just got the bill Monday, April 17.
He also had to pay a 5% late fee even though it’s not his fault the payment is late.
“Before this one, I’ve never had any problems actually getting my bill and paying it on time,” Grosso said. “This is the first time I’ve ever had anything like this happen.”
Grosso is one of several people who live in Latrobe who didn’t get their February bills in the mail until this week.
The staff said the bills went out on time.
“They had a receipt from the Latrobe post office, which is where the bills are taken, verifying the number of bills that were mailed, the day they were mailed, etcetera,” said Ellen Keefe, Chairman of the Latrobe Municipal Authority Board.
They showed Channel 11′s Andrew Havranek that receipt.
It showed 2068 bills were mailed out on January 31.
All of the bills people are getting now are postmarked with that date, but instead of a barcode on the envelope, Wendy Thomas, the secretary for the municipal authority pointed out there are the letters “INT” on all of the envelopes. Some of the envelopes also have a bunch of numbers on them.
“Nobody, and according to the lady who told me she contacted the post office, can explain what INT means,” Thomas said.
Channel 11 received a statement from the United States Postal Service, which said the matter is being investigated.
“The Postal Service recognizes timely and accurate deliveries are paramount to our customers and we remain committed to providing the service they expect. Approximately 150 mailpieces from the Latrobe Municipal Authority destined to residents of Latrobe were recently delayed in our system. We greatly apologize to our customers for any inconvenience they incurred from this matter. Our investigation into the situation will continue so we can prevent such an instance from happening again.”
Keefe said even though it’s a post office issue, residents are still on the hook for the 5% late fee.
“The authority’s position has to be you know you’re getting a sewage bill,” Keefe said. “You should know when you should be getting it.”
Grosso said he understands.
“I can’t be mad at them for anything like that,” Grosso said.
The Latrobe Municipal Authority said residents can pay their bills in person, over the phone, or online to avoid any future issues.
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