By Tabitha Evans Moore
Editor & Publisher

LYNCHBURG, Tenn. — At Tuesday’s Metro Utility Department (MUD) Board meeting, member Greg Guinn brought up the possibly of doing away with cash payment for local water and sewer bills at the MUD office at 705 Fayetteville Highway office based on the federal government’s recent announcement that they planned to stop making pennies.

“I think it is something that we should be thinking about,” Guinn told the group toward the end of the one-an-a-half hour meeting. “One of the options that I see is just declining to do non-exact cashback anymore. We could also go to credit card and check payments only.”

In February 2025, President Donald Trump announced that he had directed the U.S. Treasury Secretary to stop producing new pennies. The U.S. Mint struck the last penny on November 12, 2025 — citing the driver of the decision was cost.

But existing pennies will continue to be circulated, and there are more than 114 billion currently in circulation, according to the U.S. Treasury. So, the transition is more like a slow fade than a hard cutoff.

The change could eventually create change-making friction and the need for rounding rules in cash transactions.

On Tuesday, Guinn stated that’s he’d been reviewing the guidance related to the phase out issued by the Treasury. That guidance includes rounding transactions either up or down to the nearest $0.05.

“One of the options that I see is just declining to do non-exact cashback anymore. We could also go to credit card and/or check payments only,” he told the group.

During the discussion, Metro Utility Office Manager Katie Goodwin stated that they do take many cash payments. Her suggestion was to allow customers to pay in cash and credit any pennies to the ratepayer’s next bill if necessary.

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Policy change could create headaches for customers

Though the discussion mainly centered on the logistics from the utility side, any potential change could cause headaches for local customers.

Unbanked or under banked customers without checks or debit cards would be forced to pay with money orders or other options, which come with additional fees. Many elderly customers still prefer in-person cash payments. Some customers prefer to pay in cash specifically because it leaves fewer digital footprints.

Interestingly, there is no federal law requiring private businesses to accept cash as a form of payment. However, on July 1,2022, the Tennessee General Assembly passed a law requiring cash acceptance in retail contexts.

“A person selling or offering for sale goods or services at retail shall not require a buyer to pay using credit, or prohibit cash as payment, to purchase the goods or services.  A person selling or offering for sale goods or services at retail shall accept legal tender when offered by the buyer as payment,” TCA § 47-18-104 states. It is uncertain whether a government owned public utility would fall under the category of “selling goods or services at retail”.

In the end, Guinn stated that he was just trying to get ahead of the issue by discussing it early. He didn’t make a formal motion for a policy change, and no votes were taken on the issue.

The MUD Board meets every second Tuesday of the month at 6 p.m. at the MUD offices located at 705 Fayetteville Highway. All meetings are open to the public and there is a public comment period at the beginning of each meeting. The next meeting will take place on March 10. •

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