BILLINGS — Announced on July 8 in a Facebook post, the City of Billings Public Works said they would be experiencing delays in sending out utility bills due to a change in billing systems, causing some confusion and questions among residents.
The bills should be in the mail starting this week and through the week of July 22, said Billings Deputy Director of Public Works Jennifer Duray. She said about 12% of residents will see an old due date of July 9 printed on their bills, but that those will be incorrect and the correct one is July 31. There will be no late fees charged for July and August.
"I know there’s been a lot of frustration about people not getting their bills,” said Duray. “No worries about late fees or getting behind on this. We're doing what we can to help people.”
The new software, VertexOne, caused several bugs and issues for the city. Some bills had errors that either over or under-charged certain customers.
"The old system was really clunky and hard to use and the data going over wasn't the greatest. That caused some initial problems and then just bugs with the new software as far as prorating different things and different fixed fees not quite being right,” said Duray.
Customers did not receive their June bills like normal, prompting many online to ask how long it will take until they will be able to view their statements, or if they will end up owing more than they originally thought. However, Duray says people could call to see if they could still pay their bills and answer any questions they might have had.
“It's not going to force people into a higher tier which has been a big question because we're still going to do it. The usage is based on the 30-day period,” said Duray. "It might be 20 days this month and 40 days next month, but the usage is the biggest thing so people don't have to worry about that. It is all coming in from our meter reading system."
Those that use auto-pay will still be registered into the system and likely experience no issues. All usernames and passwords have carried over, however account numbers will be different.
The delays also coincide with yearly rate increases, averaging about $6.12 a month. Storm fees are also moving from the property tax statements to the utility bill, with the average charge at $6.68.
"They won't have that charged on their property assessments. It's not necessarily an increase of that much, but it's it's a relocation of that charge," said Duray.
Duray says that those short-term problems will lead to a better experience overall for everyone to use.
“A lot more readable and user-friendly where the bills before people complained a lot about the difficulty in finding the information. It's very clear on these new bills where everything is like this is what you have for this month," said Duray.
To visit the City of Billings FAQ page about the delay, click here.
