Friday, Feb. 17 2012 10:54AM
City to launch new water billing system at the end of month
By Miranda Wycoff
mwycoff@lsjournal.com
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ReprintThe next water and utilities bill for Lee’s Summit residents could look drastically different.
A new water utilities billing system is set to go live at the end of this month and customers could see some new and improved features and online capabilities.
Assistant Director of Water Utilities Brent Boice said the current billing software the city uses was purchased in the mid 1980s and updating the system has been on their radar for quite some time.
“We needed to find a utility billing system that would help is work toward the future and be more efficient and effective for the customer,” Boice said.
Boice said the new billing system will provide more usage information to the customer and in more detail.
A graphic on the new bills will help customers identify what their exact water usage is and not only how that compares from month to month, but also from the same time the previous year.
“It should help provide customers a greater understanding of what their water usage is and also greater detail about how their bill is calculated,” Boice said. “We want to provide the customer will all the information they need to be assured their bill is correct.”
In addition, usage information and transaction history dating as far back as 2006 will also be available to customers on the Web.
Customers will also be able to see how their usage compares to their neighbors and others around the city.
As a part of the new billing system, Water Utilities customers will have a new account number and customer number. Customers utilizing an online bill payment system through a bank will need to update the new account number and customer number combination on their bank’s Website to ensure payments are electronically applied to the correct account. The account and customer numbers will be printed on a newly designed billing statement customers are tentatively scheduled to begin receiving at the end of February.
Account numbers will change to six digits and customer numbers will change to seven digits with the removal of the leading two zeros from the current customer account number.
Customers utilizing their bank’s online bill payment system will need to use a combined customer and account number as their new account number on their bank’s Web site. This will ensure payments are electronically applied to the new account number.
The new billing site will be available at www.lswater.net where customers can access the secure Utility LINK system to:
• Sign-up for electronic bill delivery.
• View payment history.
• View comparative usage data for your entire history as far back as 2006.
• View and print bills for added convenience.
• Continue to pay water/sanitary sewer bill with Master Card or Visa debit or credit cards and download an “Automated Bank Drafting” form, if needed.
Customers will still have the ability to pay water/sanitary sewer bills via telephone, in person in the Water Utilities Department, and/or by drop boxes at the north entrance to Lee’s Summit City Hall, 220 S.E. Green St. and to the west of the City Hall.
“We’re excited about bringing this new system forward,” said Mark Schaufler, director of Water Utilities. “We do truly believe customers will see a great improvement.”
The enhancements to the water/sanitary sewer bill and online capabilities are among the features suggested by customers participating in a survey to assess the utility’s customer service, utility rates and methods of operations. These improvements are supported by the recommendations of city’s recently adopted Strategic Plan for the Lee’s Summit Water Utilities Department and the city’s visioning plan Lee’s Summit 360°: Charting Tomorrow.
For more information about the Water Utilities Department’s new utilities billing system, call 816-969-1900.
