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Utility staff outlines disconnect timeline; delinquency under 1% and collection rate above 99%
Summary
Budget coordinator Ashley Esquivel outlined the city’s disconnection timeline (bill due day 15, late outreach starting day 16, disconnect process after day 26) and said delinquency averages about 0.6% of billings while collection rates remain above 99%; staff agreed to provide the dollar amount sent to collections on request.
Ashley Esquivel, budget coordinator, briefed the board on the City of Weatherford’s customer service disconnect policy and delinquency procedures. Esquivel described the standard timeline: bills issued on day 0 and due on day 15; late notices and the first outreach begin on day 16 with at least two calls or texts and mailed notices; additional outreach occurs by day 25; after day 26 the disconnection process may begin and reconnection requires full payment of past‑due amounts plus applicable fees; closed accounts are finalized 10 days after disconnection.
Esquivel said the utility’s delinquency rate over the past 15 months has averaged about 0.6% of total billings and that the overall collection rate is consistently above 99% for the utility’s more than 20,000 customers. She told the board staff now sends both mailed bills and email notifications when customers are enrolled in e‑statement options and noted weather exceptions are applied to prevent cold‑weather disconnections.
Board members asked whether the delinquency metrics included amounts turned over to collection agencies. Esquivel replied the slide did not include collection agency balances and that accounts typically go to collections between 60 and 90 days; she offered to provide the specific dollar figure for accounts in collections after the meeting. Mayor Pro Tem (S6) and others praised the customer service team for outreach efforts and asked staff to return the requested figures.
The presentation was informational; no policy change or vote occurred at this meeting.
