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Council reviews proposed updates to utility-payment rules: two returned payments would trigger requirement for guaranteed funds
Summary
In a council workshop, staff proposed updates to Title 4 that would require customers with two returned payments within six months to provide guaranteed funds (cashier's check or guaranteed payment) for a year; staff discussed cutoffs, notification and reconnect fees.
During the council's workshop on Feb. 3, city staff presented proposed updates to Title 4 of the code of ordinances and to the utilities' customer-payment policy.
Staff described a rule that would require a customer who has two payments returned for insufficient funds within a six-month period to pay future utility bills with guaranteed funds (for example, cashier's checks) for one year. "Updated required that the customer has 2 payments returned within a 6 month period... they have to pay the guaranteed funds that could be cash or cashier's check per year," a city staff presenter stated.
Council members asked for more detail on how often returned payments occur and what enforcement and notification steps would look like. A council member asked what percentage of payments are returned; staff said returned payments constitute a small share and that repeat offenders are more common than one-off incidents. Staff said multiple communication methods (letters, phone calls) would be used before disconnection; a reconnect fee applies when service is restored.
Council discussion touched on longer-term changes to encourage automatic drafting of payments as a more efficient approach, while staff noted there are varied resident preferences and legal constraints in some circumstances. Staff also said the city's practices have evolved and that some code provisions were legacy language no longer in regular use; the Title 4 update would clean up definitions and align procedures.
The workshop was informational; staff said they would return with draft ordinance language and additional details on notification thresholds and historical data on returned payments and cutoffs.
