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Electric Bill Round Up for Scholarships -- Change from Opt-In to Opt-Out?
Since 2003, the Madison Central School Educational Foundation has partnered with the City of Madison to raise money for scholarships for Madison students through a "Round Up" program. Madison electric customers who opt into the program have their monthly electric bill rounded up to the nearest dollar; those additional pennies per month go to a fund for scholarships for MHS grads attending DSU.
To increase participation, MCSEF has asked the city to change the program from opt-in to opt-out: Madison electric customers will automatically be enrolled unless they specifically request to be excluded.
The City Commission has postponed action to take time to get public input. So let's hear some input! What do you think? Should the city change the round-up program from opt-in to opt-out?
I've been following the good discussion on the Madville Times. I support the idea of scholarships for local students to DSU -- keeping our kids here is good economic development strategy. But the means here -- switching the program from opt-in to opt-out -- is a clear money grab. The switch is not about the merits of the program; it's about boosting revenues by taking more money from people who aren't paying attention or who don't want to make the effort to opt out. If the city wants to impose a direct tax to support the program with money from everyone, the city should simply pony up and do so. Otherwise, the city should leave the program at its voluntary opt-in status.