City staff presented the city's utility billing operations and assistance programs during a study session, describing how manual meter reads and current administrative tools feed into a monthly past-due and shutoff schedule and outlining options to increase enrollment in the Utility Assistance Program.

Michael Osborne, a city presenter, and Amy Rantis, who handles much of the customer outreach and past-due casework, walked the council through the monthly workflow, describing beginning-of-month past-due notices and calls, mid-month abnormal-consumption reviews and a third-Thursday shutoff process.

Osborne said the city still relies on manual meter readers and in-house auditing of their files. He described the effect of misreads and dead-meter checks on staff workload: "When meter readers read it, if it's a misread or a leak, then public works steps in, and then our staff goes out and has to take time out of their day to go and reread the meter or to look and see if there's a leak." He estimated roughly 15–20 rereads and 15–20 dead-meter checks some months.

The city uses Tyler Technologies for billing and an outside firm for printed statements and physical meter reads. Osborne said the city recently began sending e-statements and is at roughly 3,000 emailed statements; printed mailed statements remain near an estimated 4,000. He noted the capital cost to automate reads (advanced metering infrastructure) was discussed as a long-term option; staff cited an approximate capital figure on the order of millions and said the recurring cost of meter reading is over $100,000 per year.

What the shutoff process looks like

Staff described the series of outreach steps before shutoff. At the start of the month the utility issues a past-due notice and makes automated and staff phone calls; Amy Rantis said staff try to contact accounts that are aging to offer payment plans. Osborne gave monthly averages: about 260 customers receive a past-due notice each month, roughly 75 customers receive door-hanger notices two days before a scheduled shutoff, and the city averages about 12 actual shutoffs per month. Door-hanger status is triggered before the scheduled shutoff; the city initiates shutoffs after accounts are about 75 days past due. A past-due notice fee for the mailed/door-hanger stage is $8.

Assistance programs and partners

Staff described the Utility Assistance Program (UAP) and other resources the city directs residents to. Rantis said the UAP is offered to single-family residential accounts (the program generally does not serve multifamily or commercial accounts except in specified income-restricted developments already set up with the city). She summarized application rules: staff ask for federal tax returns and income for all household occupants who receive income and carry out annual reapplication to verify continued eligibility.

Rantis said the UAP waivers are structured as follows (staff language): "We waive the base water charge for water. We charge 50% of the wastewater fee, 50% of the storm water fee, and we're waiving 100% of the [SSMP] and safety. And we're also waiving the $7 of public safety." (Program documentation and staff later confirm the precise fee code labels and waiver mechanics.)

External partners include Saint Vincent de Paul (the city budgets $7,000 annually for that partner), Clackamas County utility support (one-time emergency assistance administered by the county), United Way and the 2-1-1 network. Staff maintain an internal hardship account -- budgeted at $5,000 per year -- to cover adjustments or immediate hardship cases; Rantis said those internal dollars are paid from the utility fund and therefore ultimately borne by all ratepayers.

Enrollment and outreach goals

Judy (city staff who compiled a regional comparison) reported the city serves roughly 2% of customers through its UAP (127 customers at the time of the presentation), which is comparable with peers in the region. Council members raised questions about the program's income thresholds, noting HUD-based thresholds can differ from local median incomes and that the city's choice of threshold affects eligibility counts and subsidization costs.

Rantis emphasized staff's outreach methods: notices on the back of statements, online information, one-on-one calls for customers in door-hanger or shutoff status, three-month repayment plans that break large balances into roughly equal monthly payments, and in-person assistance and workshops to help residents complete applications and sign up for ACH/autopay.

Council directions and next steps

Councilors generally prioritized a sequential approach: first, increase awareness and enrollment among those already eligible under the current thresholds; second, consider expanding eligibility (for example to a higher HUD percentage) only after enrollment efforts are exhausted and the fiscal impacts are analyzed; and third, evaluate deeper discounts or tiered discounts.

Council asked staff to: (a) run a targeted outreach push over the next three months including community workshops and social-media outreach, (b) return with an enrollment update and utilization metrics in December, and (c) work with the city's rate consultant to prepare a sensitivity analysis of the fiscal and rate impacts of any potential eligibility or benefit changes, timed to coordinate with May fee-schedule work. Those directions were provided as council policy direction rather than formal votes.

Quotations in context

On their objectives for customer contacts, Amy Rantis said, "We want to set customers up for success." Osborne summarized the policy aim: "We just -- no communication and no payment is what we're trying to avoid." Rantis described staff practice for applicants: "If your bill is a thousand dollars, we're trying to get you at $33 per month. We kind of get you back whole in the 3 month gap and then move forward from there."

Why this matters

Councilors and staff noted that raising enrollment among currently eligible residents would increase program reach without immediately expanding subsidized eligibility and that any expansion of eligibility or deeper discounting would require explicit policy direction and clear estimates of the cost that would be allocated to all ratepayers.

Ending note

Staff will proceed with the outreach activities and report back on enrollment and the requested sensitivity analysis at the dates requested by council. If councilors choose to change eligibility thresholds or benefit levels, staff said the next practical window to incorporate changes into fee adjustments and rate design work is May, when the city updates its fee schedule.