Copperas Cove city council updated on utility accounts

By BRITTANY FHOLER 

Cove Leader-Press 

The Copperas Cove Utility Administration Department will continue with water disconnections and late fees for delinquent utility accounts following discussion during the city council meeting Tuesday evening. 

The city council and City Manager Ryan Haverlah discussed the status of the delinquent accounts during the regular meeting after Councilmember Fred Chavez requested the topic be brought to a future meeting. 

Following Fathom going out of the business in November 2019 and the city switching back to an in-house full-service utility administration department, the city of Copperas Cove Utility Administration suspended water service disconnections and late fees for account delinquency or non-payment starting in December 2019. Water service disconnections and applying late fees to customer accounts did not begin again until July 2020.

Of the city’s active accounts, 1,246 have some type of a delinquent balance, totaling $478,106, according to Haverlah. 

Of those accounts, 254 are delinquent by 120 days; 98 are delinquent by 90 days; 234 by 60 days; and 660 by 30 days. 

“Many of the customers that you see with 120 days - I don’t have the up to date information - but many of those have entered into a payment arrangement, so they are working on paying their bill,” Haverlah said. 

He added that he did not have the number of total accounts with payment arrangements.

Haverlah pointed out that this meant that just less than 10 percent of customer base is delinquent on their current active utility account. 

“With that being said, and looking at these numbers and looking at the total number of accounts that we continue to work with on a monthly basis who exceed that 30-day period, staff’s recommendation would be not to suspend disconnects for utility customers,” Haverlah said. 

Councilmember Marc Payne asked about the comparison in account delinquency to when there is not a global pandemic. 

“The accounts that we see greater than 60 days is significantly smaller, but again, it’s not just pandemic that we’re talking about,” Haverlah said. “We’re talking about a utility billing and customer service transition that was more impactful than the pandemic right now.”

The city’s utility administration department will work with customers who need help due to the pandemic or because of not paying anything at all during the seven-month period and will help them set up a payment arrangement. 

Chavez said he had asked for this discussion in light of the fact that the federal government has suspended evictions in certain situations and wanted to know whether the city should mirror that action. He said that he felt his questions were answered by Haverlah, and no action was taken. 

During the City Manager’s Report, Haverlah shared a brief update on the department and touched on a recent television news report focused on billing issues. 

“Recently, there was a news TV news report that was done and highlighted specific utility customers,” Haverlah said. “We’ve made contact with those customers to talk to them about their account, explain the usage or discrepancies that were within their account to resolve those. Any other complaints or comments that have come in about customer’s accounts, we have always worked with them and continue to work with them.”

Haverlah added that customers will typically see their usage increase during the summer, even if they do not have a pool or sprinkler system. 

“As far as a recent social media post as well as the television news article, I just want to make it very clear Kevin Keller, our director of public relations, cannot fix utility bills,” Haverlah said. “He cannot adjust utility bills, and he cannot look at customers’ utility accounts, but he is great at the connection process of connecting customers with utility administration to be able to review their bills as well as correct any discrepancies that may exist or explain charges that are on the bills.”

Keller shared with the Leader-Press that the rate increases previously discussed and voted on by the council went into effect on October 1, 2020. 

The city released a Taxpayer Impact Statement which noted that an average resident, who uses 5,000 gallons of water in a single-family home, would see their monthly bill increase by $5.58 this month compared to fiscal year 2019-2020. 

“While a resident may have seen a bill increase, it would not have been as a result of the rate increase, rather their individual usage,” Keller said about possible increases noted prior to this month.  

He encouraged any resident with concerns to monitor and consider their usage activities, check for leaks and if needed, contact the Utility Administration Department. Customers can stop by the Utility Admin office in person at 914 S. Main Street, Suite A, call 254-547-8718 or send an email to utilities@copperascovetx.gov.