WS - D - Water and Sewer Billing Procedure

September 15, 2023 RE: City of Tiffin Water and Sewer Billing Procedure Two or three times a year, City Hall gets questions about the City’s Water and Sewer billing procedure. Most of the questions center around why someone’s water was shut off. The City’s process mirrors many other Iowa cities and follows the guidelines and recommendations of the Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities of which the City of Tiffin is a member. Below is an example of a single billing cycle. I simply wanted to put this in front of the council as a point of information in case you ever get asked about the City’s process. Monthly Billing Procedures: (Example using Billing Month of August) August 1st: Bills are mailed or e-mailed for the consumption dates of June 15th – July 15th. August 20th: Bills are due. August 21st: Bills not paid become delinquent. Late fees are applied; late notices are mailed alerting that additional fees and disconnection of services will occur if payment is not received by September 10th at 8:00 a.m. August 28th: Remaining delinquent accounts are mailed a final notice alerting of additional fees and disconnection of services to occur if payment is not received by September 10th at 8:00 a.m. Between September 6th and 8th: Auto phone notifications go out to remaining delinquent accounts alerting that additional fees and disconnection of services will occur if payment is not received by September 10th at 8:00 a.m. This phone notification is not required by law. It is an extra courtesy we offer. September 10th – 8:00 a.m.: Any delinquent accounts with a balance of more than $10.00 remaining from the August bill will have a $25.00 fee applied to the account and are scheduled to be disconnected that day. The Water and Wastewater Department typically spends a half to a full day doing both disconnections and reconnections as payments come in after a customer is shut off.