By REID TUCKER
The Paxton Town Council and city resident Randy Fuller are again at an impasse after the two parties went the rounds over an agreement to reimburse Fuller for utility fees mistakenly collected by Gulf Power.
The electric utility provider is assessed a 3-percent franchise fee by the city for doing business in Paxton, and Florida’s Public Service Commission allows (but doesn’t require) franchisees to pass along that fee to customers. One of Fuller’s properties not in the city limits was incorrectly listed by Gulf Power as being in the city limits, which, records show, led to its collection of $1,977.61 from Fuller since 2005. Of that total amount, he is still owed $1,151.54.
The three board members in attendance at the July 21 meeting voted in favor of executing the agreement (approved by the Council in June of 2014), to pay the remaining balance to Fuller, but he still declined to sign the document, just as he did last summer. The document, described as a general release by City Attorney Clay Adkinson, is also designed to show a record of payment from the city to Fuller as the money is being paid out of public funds. Fuller disagreed with the document’s wording, which stipulates that he acknowledge no wrongdoing on the part of the city and also that he waive any right to seek claims against the city in the future with regard to the matter upon receiving the repayment.
“As I view it, what I’m being asked to sign is not true,” Fuller said. “This is not about money to me. It’s about right and wrong.
“As I view it, (this) is a government entity taking money from a private citizen mistakenly but not willing to give it back.”
Adkinson and city staff explained that, per the agreement, the city of Paxton will fully reimburse Fuller the remainder of the funds collected from him, provided he sign the document first. Meanwhile, the city will allow Gulf Power to deduct that amount from the franchise fees it pays the city each month.
Gulf Power does not list what properties it collects from when it makes its lump-sum franchise fee payments – thus there was neither wrongful intent nor mistake on the part of the city, Adkinson explained. Furthermore, no evidence was found in either city records or gulf power’s own documentation that word was sent from Paxton specifically telling Gulf Power to collect fees from Fuller, he said.
“What we are offering to do, based on the Council’s prior action, is not get into a squabble over whether Gulf Power erroneously listed [the property] or whether we sent a notice to Gulf Power,” Adkinson said.
“We will authorize Gulf Power to pay him back all the money he asks for, and we will pay that money to Gulf Power so that everyone is made whole again.”
Nevertheless, Fuller refused to sign the document, saying it was, in his view, untrue that the city is not responsible for the mistake. Adkinson said that if Fuller wished to have a legal representative acting on his behalf discuss the essential terms of the agreement, the wording could be changed to make Fuller feel more comfortable signing it.
However, Fuller left the boardroom without further comment after Councilman Tommy Mathis’ motion to execute the agreement as presented was called to question and unanimously upheld.
In other meeting news, the Council voted unanimously in favor of passing an agreement of participation with Walton County’s local mitigation strategy committee, which works at the behest of local governments to identify needs and develop strategies to offset the impact of natural disasters. For instance, the city of Paxton’s Town Hall forthcoming remodeling and renovation project was funded by a grant procured thanks to the city’s relationship with the mitigation strategy committee. The board also approved a continuing memorandum of understanding with Walton County Emergency Management, allowing the use of city property and buildings (namely the Paxton Agricultural Center building and parking lot) as a staging area in the event of severe weather or other disaster response efforts.
