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City says autopay error affected 1,283 utility accounts; staff works to remove late fees
Summary
Midvale staff reported an Express Bill Pay failure that prevented autopay transactions scheduled for Jan. 15 from running. About 1,283 accounts were identified; staff said late fees are being removed and the city expects accounts to be reconciled by the Feb. 15 billing cycle.
City staff told the council that a third-party payment processor, Express Bill Pay, failed to run scheduled autopay transactions set for Jan. 15, producing inaccurate unpaid balances and late fees for many customers.
"Effective 1283 accounts. I have emailed every single 1 of those people explaining the situation," Mariah, who handles utility billing, told the council. She said staff answered a high volume of calls — "we were answering the phones all day, all 4 of us" — and worked with Express Bill Pay to roll back duplicate pulls and to prepare a file to remove late fees from affected accounts.
What happened and city response: According to staff, autopay runs scheduled for the Jan. 15 due date did not occur; the system then generated late notices and automatic late fees. Express Bill Pay attempted to reprocess autopays, which led to two sets of pulls that the city rolled back as quickly as possible. Staff said most affected transactions were voided before funds cleared, and many were card-based; they believe few, if any, customers were actually charged twice. Mariah said the city is preparing a bulk adjustment to remove late fees so customers will see corrected statements by the Feb. 15 billing cycle. City staff also said they will review the vendor relationship because Express Bill Pay has experienced turnover since being acquired.
City manager Matt Dahl and other council members praised the billing staff for the rapid customer response. Dahl told the council the city will continue to check the vendor's performance and will handle individual cases (for example, customers who were overdrafted) on a case-by-case basis.
Clarifying details and timeline - Affected accounts: "Effective 1283 accounts," staff said during the meeting. - Customer contact: Staff said they emailed each affected account and fielded several hundred phone calls. - Fees and adjustments: Staff are preparing a file to remove late fees en masse; customers should see corrected balances by the Feb. 15 billing run, and the city will follow up individually where a customer suffered an overdraft or other financial harm.
No formal council action was taken; the item was an informational report and staff confirmed they will continue monitoring the vendor and assist customers individually when needed.
