North Augusta says billing cycle is stabilizing; no shutoffs or late fees until February notice

City Administrator Jim Clifford updated council on the city’s utility‑billing operations during the Aug. 11 study session, saying the August billing cycle ran on schedule and that the city is working with vendor GovSense on technical fixes.

Clifford said the August 10 bills were mailed on Friday, Aug. 8 — "for the very first time this month, the August 10 goes right out on time" — and that the next cycle (Aug. 25) is expected to be on schedule. He reiterated there are currently no late fees or shutoffs until the city issues a February notice about reimplementation and that staff will brief council before restoring fees or cutoffs.

Clifford described a productive meeting with GovSense staff to establish milestones and deliverables for outstanding technical items and said city and vendor agreed on the necessary fixes. He asked finance to compile a list of customers who have not paid since February so the city can quantify delinquencies; he said he did not yet know whether that list would number five, 30 or another figure.

Councilmember (speaker 11) noted that customers who move with outstanding bills will still have those balances associated with their names and cannot receive new service until resolved; Clifford said that is the city’s intent.

What happens next: staff will continue implementation work with GovSense, monitor upcoming billing cycles, and report back to council with the compiled delinquency list and recommended next steps for reintroducing late fees or shutoffs.