By Tabitha Evans Moore
Editor & Publisher
LYNCHBURG, Tenn. — When the Metro Utility Department Board first raised the question of what to do about pennies back in February, it touched a nerve. Cash-paying customers, elderly residents, and unbanked ratepayers all had a stake in the answer. On Tuesday night, the board found one — and it was simpler than anyone might have expected.
The MUD office will continue accepting cash. No one loses their pennies. Instead, any leftover cents from a cash transaction will be applied as a credit toward the customer’s next water bill. No rounding up. No rounding down. No change in your pocket that you didn’t ask for.
“Nobody loses in the end,” MUD Board member Darrell Richards said during Tuesday’s meeting, describing the approach Office Manager Katie Goodwin and her staff settled on. The board agreed, and no formal vote was required — the solution was handled as an internal staff matter.
How It Started
The conversation began at the February 12 MUD Board meeting, when board member Greg Guinn raised the looming reality of a penny-less economy. President Trump directed the U.S. Treasury to stop producing new pennies in early 2025, and the U.S. Mint struck its last penny on November 12 of that year. While more than 114 billion pennies remain in circulation, their slow disappearance will eventually create friction at any business that handles cash.
Guinn floated several options at the time, including moving to card and check payments only, or declining to make change for non-exact cash amounts. Both ideas raised concern. Tennessee state law requires businesses selling goods or services at retail to accept cash, and while it remains unclear whether a government utility falls squarely under that definition, the board was cautious. More practically, many MUD customers rely on cash — and the office knew it.
“Getting rid of cash payments is not what I want to do whatsoever,” Goodwin told the board Tuesday. “There are several people who have expressed concerns with us not taking cash, and they are not happy about it.”
The Credit Solution
The approach Goodwin’s office landed on is straightforward: if a customer pays in cash and is owed pennies in change, those cents will be credited to their next bill rather than returned as coins. The customer doesn’t lose the money — it just rolls forward.
Board members noted that the state legislature is also watching this space. A Senate bill currently being debated in Nashville would address how utilities handle cash transactions as pennies continue to phase out of circulation. Whether that bill passes or not, Moore County’s utility office has already found its footing.
For the ratepayers who depend on being able to walk in with cash and pay their water bill, the answer is the one they needed: nothing about that is changing.
The MUD Board meets every second Tuesday of the month at 6 p.m. at the MUD offices at 705 Fayetteville Highway. All meetings are open to the public.•
About The Lynchburg Times: The Lynchburg Times covers Moore County School Board meetings as part of its commitment to community accountability journalism. This work is support by our community partners at Barrel House Barbecue.