Memorandum
City of Lawrence
Finance Department
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TO: |
Thomas Markus, City Manager |
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FROM: |
Kristy Webb, Utility Billing Manager |
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CC: |
Bryan Kidney; Casey Toomay |
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DATE: |
April 18, 2017 |
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RE: |
Utility Billing – New Payment Portal and Delinquency Notification process |
Background
On October 6, 2016 the City of Lawrence signed an amended agreement with Paymentus to change the Paymentus Service Fee Model from Convenience Pay (user pays) to an Absorbed Model (City pays). This extended the current contract with Paymentus to September 30, 2020. The amended agreement made available additional services through Paymentus, including an online payment portal, electronic bill presentment within that portal, and use of Paymentus’ Enterprise Communication Manager tool, which allows for communication with customers via automated phone call or email. An update on these items, as well as a change in collections process, is provided below.
Absorbed Service Fee Model
Effective January 25, 2017 all service fees for paying by credit card are paid by the City instead of by the customer. This applies to payments for utility bills, ambulance services, licenses and permits managed by the City Clerk’s office, and miscellaneous account receivables, including Roll-Off services. Previously customers were paying service fees of $3.25 per credit card transaction for utility bill payments.
Online Payment Portal
On February 6, 2017 a new payment portal through Paymentus was implemented. The new portal is located at - https://ipn.paymentus.com/cp/clks . The new portal allows for the following activities:
Enterprise Communication Manager (ECM) Tool
Currently, all delinquent customers are notified on their bill that their account is delinquent; the bill message states, “Account is delinquent; please pay by the due date to avoid additional fees and disconnection.” Later this month, the department will begin to offer email notification for delinquent accounts.
Any delinquent customer with a valid email on file will receive notice via email prior to disconnection, unless they specifically request not to receive those messages. The email messages allows for customization that provides the customer’s name, account number, amount due, and due date.
In June, the department will also begin to offer phone notifications to delinquent accounts. In order to comply with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), only customers that have opted in to receive automated phone messages will be sent those types of message. The customer will receive an automated message that states, “Your City of Lawrence utility bill account is currently delinquent and subject to disconnect. To avoid disconnect please pay your bill by {insert date}.”
Collections Procedures
Currently, when utility bill accounts are delinquent and subject to disconnect, the field representatives knock on the customer’s door to attempt to collect payment before shutting off the water.
With the ability to notify customers of delinquency status via email or automated phone message effective June 1, 2017 the field staff will no longer be collecting payments at the door from utility billing customers.
If a delinquent customer does not have an email address on file and has not opted in to receive phone notification, they will not be additionally notified prior to their water being shut off. If water is shut-off, accounts will be subject to additional trip charges and other charges to restore service.
Customer Notification of Changes
A press release notifying customers of these changes will be sent out on April 19th and a billing insert will go out in all paper bills starting the week of May 1st. Customers will be encouraged to opt in to receive those notifications prior to this change taking effect on June 1, 2017.
Customers can update their account information, including their email address at https://lawrenceks.org/utility-profile-update/.