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Santa Fe Springs officials say incorrect April water bills sent to half the city; revised bills issued, no penalties
Summary
City staff told the council that an April 23 billing error from a new utility system produced incorrect invoices for half of Santa Fe Springs; city reverted to average billing, mailed revised statements and will credit customers who already paid.
Santa Fe Springs officials told the City Council that an incorrect water bill mailed April 23 affected roughly half the city after a recent conversion to a new billing system. Staff said the city reverted affected accounts to average billing, mailed revised statements, will issue credits to customers who already paid and will not assess penalties or interest.
The error arose during a transition to a new computer billing system, city staff said. “If you received a bill in April, it was incorrect,” Julio, a city utilities staff member, told the council; “please disregard it and pay the new revised bill. If you already paid your bill, you will receive a credit towards your next bill.”
The revised bills were mailed to those who received the April 23 statement; customers on the alternate billing cycle will receive a corrected statement the following week, staff said. City staff have extended hours and a hotline for questions and said they were available until 8 p.m. on meeting nights to help residents reconcile accounts.
Council members asked whether related program enrollments — such as paramedic/subscription billing — were affected. Staff said they are reviewing individual enrollments and will reach back to residents where a renewal or reconfirmation is required, and that they are collecting updated contact information to improve outreach.
City Manager Rene Bovedia and utilities staff emphasized the city’s intent to make the situation right and asked residents to update contact details through the city’s online account portal (GoSFS) or by calling the utility hotline. Staff said direct-debit withdrawals were paused when the error was discovered so no automatic debits would occur for the incorrect amounts.
The council did not take formal action at the meeting beyond accepting the staff update and asking for continued outreach and follow-up; staff committed to returning with any additional remediation steps if needed.
