EDDYVILLE, Ky. — The United States Postal Service in Lyon County has been experiencing delays in sending out time-sensitive bills and other important notices.
Roughly 75% of Lyon County residents received time-sensitive bills on or after the due date. Eddyville Mayor Greg Greene said the county will waive late fees if the problem goes on for another month.
Many residents in Lyon County, including government offices, are experiencing delays in receiving mail, particularly bills from the Lyon County Water District. Approximately 75% of residents received their bill either two days before the due date or, in some cases, two days after.
In a Facebook post, Judge Executive Jamie Smith said, "Lyon County is aware of issues with the Postal Service in regard to mail taking a long time to get to its destination. We have had issues ourselves. Lyon County has reached out to our Congressional Leaders about this issue."
Smith mentioned that delays in USPS delivery services go well beyond this incident.
"The property valuation administrator Christy Cruz brought me a copy of an envelope that she had mailed out on May the 3rd," Smith said. "It was returned to us on July 14. So that's approximately about two months, well over two months that it was delayed in getting back to us."
Judge Executive Jamie Smith on Tuesday, Aug. 27. Smith said government offices have experienced mail delays too. She said a document she sent out in May was returned in July without a return to sender label.
Smith noted that there has been a change in the post office routes. Instead of sending mail directly to Evansville, it now passes through Tennessee before being sent back to Kentucky.
Water and tax bills come in a postcard-like format. Smith suspects this format is causing delays.
She said Fredonia, Eddyville, and Benton are experiencing the same issue. Tax documents will go out in September. Smith is hopeful the issue will be resolved by then, but fears those may even come late.
"It can cost people," Smith said. "They get a discount period. A lot of people want to pay in that discount period. If they don't get it, they don't maybe realize, or it slips their mind, there's so much going on that they lose that. Or if they even at the end, you could still end up paying more or a penalty because you didn't get it."
Eddyville Mayor Greg Greene said he doesn't know how long the problem will last. His office has been in touch with Congressman James Comer to try and find a solution but is awaiting his response.
Eddyville Mayor Greg Greene couldn't speak at length about the matter, but said he couldn't give a time frame on when USPS delivery services in the area will return to normal.
Until then, Greene assured customers that officials are working with them through the changes.
"Next month, but because I don't know what the, I don't know what the post office is going to do, we're going to waive the penalty next month," Greene said. "We're going, if it happens again, we're going to waive it."
Lyon County Water District provided the following statement:
"We are also having issues with the post office delivery delay. I mail all water bills on the 25th of the month, they are due on the 10th of the following month. Our customers say they are not getting them entirely or they get them one to two days before the due date. I have asked all of our customers to call our office if they do not receive the bill by the 2nd of the month so there is plenty of time for mailing and for our office to receive their payments before the due date of the month on the 10th to prevent a late fee and a disconnect notice. Due to the slow running of USPS, our office does place a courtesy call approx. 1 week before disconnections to our customers."
Smith has been in talks with Republican Congressman James Comer to rectify the issue. She said she's waiting to hear back on the next course of action.
Smith said besides Lyon County, Fredonia, Eddyville, and Benton are experiencing the same mail delays.
Comer's office provided the following statement:
“Kentuckians and all Americans expect their mail to be delivered in a timely fashion. I am concerned about reports that residents in my district are experiencing mail delays, including the delivery of time-sensitive bills and other notices. The House Oversight Committee is seeking a briefing from the U.S. Postal Service to understand how it plans to address this issue and improve mail delivery service.”
Smith recommends using the USPS Informed Delivery service, which tracks and displays the mail on its way to your mailbox. She also encourages people to sign up for paperless billing.
