Residents of Summit County struggling to make payments on utility bills will have a pleasant surprise the next time they open their water, propane or sewer bill.
Nikola Motor Company CEO and Summit County resident Trevor Milton says he feels lucky to be able to help pay past due bills for neighbors who are struggling. He’s set aside $150,000 to help. About a third has gone to Kamas area residents so far. Milton plans to expand the program to other towns in the county.
“Primarily, I wanted to help people directly connected to me in my community. That was a big one for me. So rather than sending money off to a charity where you would never see it, you would never know what it went to or you would never even know if it helped any of your neighbors that were struggling. So, my number one goal here really was I decided I wanted to call the mayors. I wanted them to have skin in the game.”
He wanted to structure the donation in a way that engages municipalities, and other individuals to participate in giving during this time of COVID-19 lay-offs and business shut-downs. He’s already heard from many others interested in how he worked with cities and towns to put the program in place.
“So, I wanted the whole community to rally together and that was the idea. The mayor agreed to discount all the past due bills by 25% if I came in and paid them all off. I was really hoping to try to set an example for other people in other cities and states to do the same thing.
Kamas Mayor Matt McCormick says it was an incredibly generous gesture and when contacted with the offer, they calculated the total amount of past due utility bills owed to the city. Milton then wrote out a check for 75% of the total. McCormick says Kamas city waived the remaining 25%.
“I don’t even know a name of who it impacts and it’s better that way because it really is just whoever regardless of name regardless of whether they make a bunch of money and just didn't pay their bill. We just did not discriminate, and it really doesn't matter, it's just a fantastic offer."
Milton says he has been approached by people who he’s never met, and he hopes his example will inspire people to help each other in this difficult time.
“I’m running a big company but I'm still trying to find time to help. And that's what I think everyone needs to do, is just take a little bit of time. Help the neighbors around them even if they can't do anything financially. I mean just go help people. Do something to show support in your community and I think people are going to know the time for us to finally come together, rather than be divided over politics.”
Nikola Motor Company is an American hybrid truck design company based in Phoenix, Arizona. It was started in Salt Lake City in 2012 and is named after Nikola Tesla.
