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North Augusta says online payment glitch reconciled; May bills mailed late and deadlines extended
Summary
City staff told council that online payments made April 9–14 were reconciled after a Clover/Fiserv integration issue; May 10 bills will be mailed late, no shutoffs or late fees will be assessed, and the May 10 payment deadline is extended to July 11 while the city stabilizes billing cycles.
City staff at the June 16 North Augusta City Council meeting reported that a technical issue affecting online utility payments between April 9 and April 14 has been reconciled and that the city will delay enforcement on billing deadlines while it normalizes billing cycles.
Administration said payments made through the city's online portal (via Clover, part of the Fiserv system) during the identified window were being received by the city but were not correctly matched to customer accounts. Finance staff led a manual reconciliation of those transactions; staff named Linda and Tara from the finance department as leading the effort and said they now have high confidence that reconciled payments will be reflected in the next billing cycle.
The city will mail the May 10 billing cycle by the Wednesday following the June 16 meeting and will adjust due dates: the May 10 cycle will carry a new due date of July 11 to avoid penalizing customers who receive bills late. Staff said they are not turning off water service and are not charging late fees during the ongoing reconciliation. The administration also said it will space future bill mailings to avoid compressing multiple billing cycles into a short period while staff continue the system transition.
Council members asked about the volume of online payments and transaction fees for card-based payments. Staff said the city does not currently have a precise breakdown of payment-method volumes; long-term goals include moving customers to the online portal for efficiency, but staff noted the city currently pays transaction fees for electronic payments. The council discussed options for absorbing transaction fees in the utility-rate model versus passing a service charge to customers; staff said that policy choices and ordinance language would need further study.
Staff repeatedly emphasized they had not resumed late fees or service suspensions until they are confident the billing records are accurate. The city said it will stagger upcoming cycles (including the May 25 cycle) to restore a regular monthly cadence without creating customer confusion.
