North Lauderdale to switch utility billing system Aug. 27; customers must re‑enroll, city waives late fees for first three months

City of North Lauderdale staff told residents at a July 2024 town hall that the city will switch to a new integrated utility billing and customer information system on Aug. 27, 2024, requiring customers to use a new 10‑digit utility number and to re‑enroll for online features such as autopay.

The change matters because the city will stop accepting updates and applying payments in the old system during a transition window; staff urged customers not to change bank bill‑pay settings until after the Aug. 27 go‑live to avoid misapplied payments. The city also said it will not apply late fees for the first three months after the switch (September through November 2024) to reduce problems while the new system stabilizes.

At the town hall David Himes Jr., Customer Service and Billing Supervisor with US Water, summarized the timetable: "Come August 27, that's when the go live for the new system will take place." Himes explained that the new utility number is a two‑part 10‑digit identifier: "The first 5 digits is the account number... The second part would be the customer ID number," he said, adding that the account number identifies the property while the customer ID identifies the owner.

Allison Gale, the city's utility billing supervisor, walked attendees through how bills and payments will look under the new Tyler ERP‑linked system. Gale said the city will move to owner‑only accounts ("It started back in 02/2007.…