Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Billing And Collections topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Watershed officials report billing surge and outline collection steps; $40M in older delinquencies remain
Summary
Department leaders told the committee bills issued rose sharply year-over-year while delinquent balances include long-standing pre-COVID amounts; the department reported short-term collection gains and said legal limits constrain write-offs.
Deputy commissioner Hugh Smith, Office of Customer Care and Billing Services, and the Department of Watershed Management told the City Utilities Committee that year-over-year bills issued jumped about 20 percent while accounts established increased roughly 3 percent.
“Some of our efforts with disconnections has caused people to come in and establish accounts, which also leads to more billing,” Deputy commissioner Hugh Smith said, explaining part of the rise in bills issued.
Committee members asked why the number of bills issued rose so far faster than new accounts. The department said some accounts moved from inactive to active status, and that reestablishing accurate customer records after a multi-year pause in disconnections created extra billing activity.
Staff reported the department has seen a $6,000,000 reduction in delinquent balances over the last three weeks after onboarding collections partners, adding 15 phone-calling staff and rolling out new payment-plan and mobile-payment tools. The department said it is collecting 94–95 percent of current bills (30–60 days old).
The department also told the committee older, pre-COVID delinquencies are significant. Officials estimated roughly $40,000,000 of delinquent balances date to the period prior to pandemic-era policy changes. The department said those amounts have been properly reserved and that municipal code prevents administratively writing off active accounts without an auditable process.
Finance chief Jonathan Williams told council the department expects to underrun this fiscal year’s operating budget by about $20,000,000, driven largely by unfilled headcount and some work performed in-house rather than by contractors.
Council members asked for follow-up: a reconciliation of the bills-issued figure, a breakdown of delinquent balances by vintage (for example, 2023 and earlier), and a presentation planned later in the week on collection strategies. The department agreed to provide those details.
