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Hastings Utilities to phase out door postings with June ERP billing go‑live; board discussed 3% late fee proposal
Summary
Staff told the board the utility’s new ERP billing module is scheduled to go live June 1, enabling a new customer portal and automated communications; staff recommended ending physical order postings tied to shutoffs and proposed a 3% delinquent charge to replace posting fees, to be adopted through the fee schedule and budget process.
Carl, a utility billing staff member, briefed the Hastings Utility Board on April 10 on the next phase of the city’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) project: migrating utility billing to a new module with a planned go‑live date of June 1.
Carl said the new customer portal will show daily meter usage, allow scheduled payments and enable automated alerts by text, email or voice. "Customers are gonna have the ability to schedule payments, within or, meter detail," he said, and the portal will allow the utility to send automated delinquent notices and cutoff alerts.
Staff proposed ending door postings (the physical notice left at properties before shutoff) to coincide with the June 1 go‑live, saying postings are costly and that the ERP module will provide multiple automated communication channels. Carl presented cost estimates in the meeting: about $17,000 annually for mailing delinquent notices and roughly $109,000 a year to operate the vehicle used to do postings; customers are currently billed roughly $130,000 annually in posting charges.
To replace the posting charge as an operational deterrent, staff recommended the board and city council consider a 3% delinquent charge applied after the agreed delinquency period; Carl said the proposed percentage is in line with peer utilities. Derek, a staff member, and other board members said the 3% proposal and the elimination of postings would be forwarded through the budget process and the fee schedule for city council approval, and that the board should allow exceptions and waivers where customers are working with assistance agencies.
Board members asked about outreach to customers who do not use email or social media; Carl and staff said they will use multiple channels (mail, newspaper, radio, social media) and work with Tony, the communications staff member, to push information before June 1. Carl said the utility has a significant number of customer email addresses and that staff may be able to send test communications even from the system’s test environment.
Carl also described changes to budget billing: the new system will amortize budget billing over 12 months rather than 11 (the utility previously used an 11‑month divide with a reconciliation month). He said staff can adjust individual budget‑billing amounts on an ad hoc basis if usage or balances get out of line.
Ending: The board agreed to proceed with implementing the ERP billing migration and with staff preparing a recommended delinquent fee and related waiver language for approval through the budget and fee‑schedule process; no final fee change was adopted at the April 10 meeting.
