Bastrop, Tx–City water and electric customers are being issued refunds of $343,380 in utility deposits beginning Dec. 15, a city council member says. The deposits are being refunded to qualified customers under new policies formally adopted by the Bastrop City Council last week.
The move had been in planning stages for about a year. By Christmas some 1,874 customers should receive refund checks, not credit against current and future bills, said Council Member Julie Hart in a Monday email to constituents.
Under earlier city rules, utility deposits were not returned to customers until the service was discontinued. That meant that even the best customers–those who always paid charges on time–could have their deposits held in city coffers for decades. Hart said one deposit being returned this week was first put down in 1920.