Waterloo moves to Locus 8 software, adds customer portal and digital billing tools

City officials told the utility board they have begun rolling out Locus 8, a new utility-management platform intended to modernize billing, payments and staff timekeeping.

The city said staff received initial training and that the system will allow clerks to scan customer bills to auto-populate accounts and print receipts instead of hand-writing them. "They'll scan it. They'll populate the bill. They'll verify the amount, post the bill," staff said in the presentation. The rollout also includes a customer portal for residents to view usage and pay online and a separate Connect Teams implementation for timekeeping planned to begin in November.

Officials said Invoice Cloud-like features will be available inside Locus 8 and that some residents will be invited to sign up for online payment; staff said hourly data could be surfaced so customers can spot leaks or abnormal consumption themselves. The city is exploring outsourcing bulk bill mailings as a cost-saving measure after staff noted ongoing postage and mailing expenses.

Staff acknowledged an adjustment period for office staff and field crews as workflows change and said no new fees are required to join Locus 8. The city plans additional targeted training sessions with the vendor and will bring any required policy changes, such as mailing-fee decisions, to a future council agenda for approval.

The presentation emphasized anticipated operational savings and customer-service improvements; staff will return to the board with deployment timelines and any recommended ordinance or fee changes.