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City says billing errors fixed after software migration; late fees and shutoffs suspended during audit
Summary
North Augusta officials told the council May 5 that a migration to new utility billing software caused errors in two billing cycles; billing was paused, audits completed, and the city has suspended late fees and shutoffs while correcting records and working with payment vendors.
City administration told the North Augusta City Council on May 5 that problems from a software migration disrupted utility billing earlier this year and that staff have paused enforcement while completing an audit to restore accurate billing.
Jim Clifford, city administrator, said the city moved its billing from a legacy system called CSI into a new platform, GovSense, and that the vendor migration produced errors in the February 25 and March 10 billing cycles. Clifford said the city halted billing for those cycles until it could complete internal audits and ensure accurate statements.
“The old system is working just fine. Well, if you're familiar with IT systems, you know, at some point in time, Microsoft stopped supporting whatever Windows version you have … and then they become vulnerable to cyber attack,” Clifford said, explaining why the city pursued a software upgrade. He said the migration was funded in part with ARPA funds and aimed to replace an out‑of‑support system.
Clifford said the city established a centralized customer service phone line, increased staff support and instituted a policy that late fees and water shutoffs are suspended while the audit continues. “I also gave authorities to the finance director to suspend all water shutoffs and all late fees,” Clifford said.
Officials said the city has manually audited about 1,100 accounts and expects to mail corrected bills beginning May 7; residents should receive mailed bills between May 8–10 with the May 10 cycle expected to be sent by May 13 and the May 25 cycle no later than May 27. Officials emphasized that no late fees or service cutoffs will be applied until records are fully audited and the billing cadence returns to normal.
The city also disclosed an interruption by its online payment processor. The Fiserv/Clover component that takes credit‑card payments experienced an outage April 9–14; that interruption left the city without complete records of who paid and when. Clifford said senior staff from Fiserv and Clover have been engaged and the city will continue to reconcile payments with customer calls.
Nut graf: The migration to GovSense produced billing errors for two cycles earlier this year; the administration halted billing to audit records, suspended enforcement measures, and plans to resume accurate, on‑time cycles in late May while continuing vendor reconciliation.
Councilmembers asked for updates on vendor performance and reconciliation progress. Clifford said senior representatives from the payment processor were involved and that the city is considering contract performance before the contract expires in September 2026.
Ending: City officials urged customers with specific questions or payment evidence to call the centralized number posted on the city website and at city buildings. Officials plan to return to regular billing once audits are complete and will brief council on final timelines.
