Take a look at this flyer (.PDF) sent to us by a Rutherford County viewer last night.
The Governor has deemed that everyone’s October electric bill will be paid through the Upper Cumberland Human Resource Agency (if you live in Cannon County). This is Larry Davis’s Office on the third floor of the Cannon Adams Office Building. If you live in Rutherford County you go through the Mid-Cumberland Human Resource Agency. You can also check with your electric company if you live in another county besides Cannon or Rutherford to see where you can get you bill paid or credit on your next bill. This program is available to everyone regardless of inclome and the amount of your residential electric bill.
The Tennessee Department of Human Services called this flyer a hoax.
This rumor has caused people to flood the Mid-Cumberland Community Action Agency in Rutherford County with requests that it pay their utility bill. The Upper Cumberland Human Resource Agency, which serves Cannon County, reported similar problems earlier this week.
The program offered at these agencies to help extremely poor citizens pay their heating and cooling bills is called the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). Recipients must meet low income guidelines to be eligible for the program.
[utility bill hoax hits middle tennessee counties - TDHS - 10-17-07]
The UCHR offices had to stay open until 9:30 p.m. Monday due to the number of people who showed up.
According the state DHS, low income residents who received air conditioners as part of the governor’s heat assistance program this summer are elgible to receive a one month subsidy from the state to pay their highest electrical bill this summer. DHS says about 7000 people across the state are elgible.
This story fails to say that even the human resource depaartment was duped by this hoax. The Upper cumberland office continued to collect residents information (pay stubs and electric bill info.) Why? nobody at the offices could give a straight answer as to what was involved and why a refund was offered. The answer I got was “oh I don’t know, It is just something Gov. Bredeson did probably for his last term to look good.” This was by one of the employees at the human resource department.
Now The Tennessee Department of Human Services called this flyer a hoax? 3 days after the initial influx of residents comeing in and asking questions about it?
So this hoax did not only dupe residents of middle tennessee but it also duped the goverment offices of human services that continued to process requests even after it was obvious something was not quite right. How many tax dollar hours were wasted processing these claims?
Greg, if you experienced this or know someone who has, can you email us? You can click through the NEWS TIP button in the right column. I can tell you that several calls were made a day before we reported this that did not yeild clear answers.
Thank you for for your comment and for watching News 2.
I agree with Greg. This hoax not only duped Mid TN residents but also apparently government employees. The same thing is occurring in Bedford County–I know several people who submitted electric bill refund requests in that county. The resource agency accepted the requests and told the people that income level did not matter. How could this many agencies in this many counties make the same mistake??? How can this be attributed simply to a hoax e-mail and flyers?
I live in Bedford County and what I am now concerned with is were was this information, that was given to South Central Human Resource, faxed ? I know they were faxing personal info BUT to who? I know several elderly residents who used their bank statements as proof of income because their Social Security Checks are direct deposited. This was faxed for 2 days before they decided it was a hoax..who was getting this information? If it was a Government agency why did they take so long to ask these offices “why the heck they were faxing this stuff to them?”
The South Central Human Resource Office was closed today in Bedford County(gee I wonder why?) with a sign on the door just stating (“Bredesen’s Heat Relief Program ended Oct 17) Now the other question is: How could something end, if it really never began?”