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Melbourne apologizes after billing system glitches delayed 24,000 water bills; city waives late fees
Summary
City Manager Jenny told council that a switch to a new online payment vendor and subsequent notice errors caused June water bills for roughly 24,000 customers to be delayed until July; the city will not assess late fees or pursue shutoffs for affected accounts and will perform an after‑action review.
City Manager Jenny apologized at the July 22 Melbourne City Council meeting for billing failures that delayed utility notices and overwhelmed customer service resources.
Jenny told council that two problems contributed to the issue: a recent migration to a new online payment system and a subsequent failure that delayed June bills for nearly half of the utility account base — about 24,000 customers — so those customers received their June notice in July. The city has told residents affected by the delays that it will not assess late fees or pursue water shutoffs tied to the late notices.
Jenny said the city’s customer service lines were inundated when the delayed notices were issued and that the staff spent extra time on calls and at the service counter to reassure customers, explain billing, and avoid unintended terminations. She said staff would produce an after‑action report to identify technical and operational fixes before a future migration and to improve response times and multi‑channel communications.
Council reaction and next steps: Council members pressed staff for details about the causes and for measures to prevent recurrence. Jenny said staff will perform a formal after‑action review and report back on corrective steps and any staffing or vendor changes required. The city reaffirmed it will not levy penalties on accounts affected by the delayed notices.
Ending: Customers affected by the billing delay should expect additional communications from the utility; the city will not apply late fees or pursue collections action for the affected billing cycle while staff investigates and improves the process.
