The McAlester City Council voted unanimously to temporarily waive the city's 10% utility late fee, suspend the $45 nonpayment (disconnect) fee and not process physical service disconnections for residential accounts in November 2025.

Councilors discussed a short-term measure aimed at easing household bills during the Thanksgiving and early-holiday period and asked staff about operational consequences and outreach. Utilities staff reported that reminder calls had been placed this cycle and recommended continuing reminders and a public-service announcement encouraging customers to pay what they can.

Utilities billing staff told the council that the department sent 299 reminder calls on Monday in advance of a planned cutoff (normal is about 250'to'75 calls). The staff member explained that the 10% late fee is charged on the current bill only (not on the total outstanding balance) and that a nonpayment fee is tied to the physical cutoff process. The staff member described arrangements that extend due dates and prevent accounts from appearing on a cutoff list if customers call and commit to payment; conversely, a "failed arrangement" (a promised payment that does not occur) normally leads to disconnection under existing procedures.

Staff recalled the COVID-era suspension of cutoffs and penalties and warned that when the city stopped reminders and enforcement previously, accounts "snowballed" into larger unpaid balances. For that reason staff recommended continuing automated reminder calls and adjusting the call verbiage and any PSAs to encourage customers to make partial payments and to call for arrangements rather than to stop outreach entirely.

Council members asked for scope clarifications; staff confirmed the suspension applies to residential customers only. Staff also provided operational context: the utility issues roughly 8,000 bills each cycle, about 1,300 of which are commercial accounts, and cutoffs are organized in two geographic zones with scheduled work twice monthly.

Councilor Woodley moved to approve a resolution to waive the 10% late fee, waive the nonpayment fee and not process cutoffs for November 2025; Councilor Beatty seconded. The vote was recorded as: Councilor Woodley, yes; Councilor Beatty, yes; Councilor Gilmore, yes; Councilor Stone, yes; Councilor Roden, yes; Mayor, yes. The mayor declared the motion carried and adjourned the special meeting.

Implementation notes discussed on the record include instructing staff to: continue reminder calls while revising automated messaging to remove mentions of assessed penalties; add language directing customers to call for payment arrangements; and prepare for the operational impact in December if customers who defer November balances do not make arrangements or partial payments.

Details noted on the record: staff said 299 reminder calls were sent this cycle, the late fee is 10% of the current bill, the nonpayment fee associated with a cutoff is $45, and the utility runs cutoffs twice monthly by zone. The council did not adopt any new long-term policy or funding allocation at the meeting; the action authorized the mayor to sign a temporary resolution for November 2025 only.