City FAQs • Utility Billing

▼
Utility Billing

1. What is happening?: The City of Pasco is updating their utility billing software.

2. What is the utility billing software used for?: Our utility billing software is used to calculate and bill approximately 24,000 accountsin the City of Pasco for water, sewer, stormwater, ambulance, and irrigation utility services. This software is used to process meter reads and calculate recurring base fees and consumption charges based on account type. This system is also used to process other activity such as move in/move outs, new service connections and fire hydrant meter rentals.

3. Why is the City of Pasco making this change?: The City’s current utility billing software has been used for approximately the last 30 years. However, the software provider of our current system will no longer upgrade or support the system. We are committed to enhancing our services and thus, took steps about 2 years ago to review and evaluate new software options. The new software is a module of our currently used account software which should contribute to a more fluid conversion. We look forward to better serving you with our new utility billing software.

4. When will this change take place?: Every customer’s contact and billing information must be transferred from our old software to our new software. This transfer will take place from Thursday, August 10, 2023 to Tuesday, August 15, 2023. During this time, the City’s financial software will be down citywide.

5. Does this change affect any other City departments or just Utility Billing?: The City’s financial software will be down citywide while customer’s contact and billing information is being transferred to our new software module. After that transfer is complete, the Utility Billing division is the only city division that will be utilizing this new software.

6. Will I be able to pay my utility bill while the City’s financial software is down from Th. 08/10/23 to Tu. 8/15/23?

The Utility Billing Department will NOT be able to accept cash payments during these dates. Please see below for the impact to various City departments and alternate ways to pay your utility bill during these dates.

Cemetery Division – No impact to operations.
Permitting Division – No impact to operations. Permitting does not accept cash payments.
Police Department – Will be unable to accept cash, check or debit card payments during this time.
Recreation Division – No impact to operations.
Tri-Cities Animal Shelter – No impact to operations.
Utility Billing Division – Will be unable to accept cash, check or debit card payments during this time. However, please take note of the alternate ways to pay your utility bill during these dates:
- Staff will be available in the utility billing “lobby” area to assist customers to make payments using the “One-time Payment” feature of Paymentus online.
- Customers can leave a check with a Utility Billing Representative or in the payment drop box in front of City Hall.
- Customers can make a phone payment through Paymentus, free of charge, using a debit card, credit card or checking account by calling 1-844-235-9991.
- Customers can make an online payment through Paymentus, free of charge, using a debit card, credit card or checking account by visiting our website at https://www.pasco-wa.gov/285/Payment-Options or by visiting our partner website directly at https://ipn2.paymentus.com/cp/pasc.
- Customers can make a payment, free of charge, using cash (no change given) or a debit/credit card using one of our three US Payments kiosks. They are located at:
  1. City of Pasco, 525 N. 3^rd Avenue, Pasco, WA, in front of City Hall.
  2. Franklin PUD, 1411 W. Clark Street, Pasco, WA, in the drive-thru area.
  3. HAPO Center, 6600 Burden Blvd., Pasco, WA, in front of the main facility at the end of the drive-thru loop.

PLEASE NOTE: We strongly encourage our customers not to use any other online payment providers (for example, DOXO), as these services charge our customers a fee and take several days for your payment to reach the City, which could cause fees and/or penalties to incur on the utility account. The City has partnered with both Paymentus and US Payments Kiosks so that our customers have multiple “fee free” avenues to make their utility payments to the City.

7. What checks and tests have been completed before the transfer date to make sure that the data transfer is complete and correct?: The conversion process started over a year ago and includes many meetings between staff with the City and staff with our software provider to ensure that the billing data found in our current software transfers accurately and correctly in our new software (“cross-walking data”). Once all the information was matched up correctly, the City has spent several months “paralleling” the two billing software programs to make sure that the information and billing calculations are occurring in the new software as they are in the current software. After successful parallels, the City is moving forward with transferring to the new utility billing software.

8. Will I have the same account number?: Yes, your account number will stay the same. However, the format of your account number will change. Your account number will change from xxx-xxxxx.xx (3 numbers, dash, 5 numbers, period, 2 numbers) to xxxxxxxx-xxx (8 numbers, dash, 3 numbers). It will go from a 10-digit number to an 11-digit number. The account sequence number, the number at the end, will change from 2-digits to 3-digits and will have an extra 0 in it. For example, 123-45678.02 will change to 12345678-002.

9. Will my bill look different?: No, your bill will not look different at this time. However, keep in mind that this new utility billing software will include some features that were not possible in our current utility billing software. In time, the use of these features may require the City to update their bill format. We will communicate with our customers before any changes are made.

10. Will the amount of my bill change?

There are no changes in utility fee or consumption rates as a part of this software conversion. Nor does our utility billing software conversion include any changes to our water meters or how our water meter reads are obtained. However, you may notice some slight changes in the amounts of your bills for the following reason:

Our current utility billing software bills consumption in 100 cubic feet increments ($1.00/100 cu ft) while our new utility billing software bills consumption in 1 cubic foot increments ($0.01/1 cu ft).

11. Will my bill be arriving at the same time and/or will my bill due date change?: Yes, your bill will be arriving about the same time as it usually does. No, your bill due date will not change. There are no changes being made to our billing cycles as part of the utility billing software conversion. Each account will continue to be billed in their assigned bill cycle (Cycle 1 – 1^st Thursday of each month; Cycle 2 – 2^nd Thursday of each month; Cycle 3 – 3^rd Thursday of each month; Cycle 4 – 4^th Thursday of each month). If an update to billing cycles is needed, we will communicate with our customers before any changes are made.

12. I am set up on AutoPay through Paymentus. Do I need to change anything?: No, you do not need to make any changes in your Paymentus customer account portal. The format of your account number will automatically be updated in Paymentus. If you have already set up autopay, it will continue processing as normal.

13. I make my one-time payments through Paymentus. Do I need to do anything differently?: Yes, you will need to use the updated account number format (see Q-8) when processing your one-time payment on or after August 10, 2023. For example, #123-45678.02 will change to #12345678-002.

14. I make my payment through my bank’s Bill Pay program. Do I need to change anything?: Yes, you will need to log into your Bill Pay program and update your account number to the new format (see Q-8) as soon after August 10, 2023 as possible. For example, #123-45678.02 will change to #12345678-002.

15. Will the payments that I make with Paymentus, by phone or online, or with US Payments Kiosk show on my account right away?: As is currently the case, any payments made to the City using our partner vendors Payments and/or US Payments will be posted on the date they are made but will not reflect on your utility account until the next business day.

16. Will I be able to view my statements and my balance right away after the conversion?: Yes, you will be able to view your statements and your balance due right away after the conversion. To do so you will need to visit the City’s online Utility Billing Portal, powered by Paymentus (https://ipn2.paymentus.com/cp/pasc), and set up an account using the new account number format (see Q-8).

17. The Utility Billing Division will be down from Th. 08/10/23 to Tu. 08/15/23. What if I am buying, selling, or moving in or out of a home during those dates?: Move in/move out requests, due to buying/selling and/or due to renting a property, will be accepted during these dates; however, they will not be processed until after Tuesday, August 15, 2023. Part of processing these requests is obtaining a final water meter read at the property. We encourage our customers to plan ahead and to notify the City as soon as possible, by Wednesday, August 9, 2023, if possible, of their move in/move out date so that a work order can be entered now to obtain the final meter read while our utility billing system is down.

18. The Utility Billing Division will be down from Th. 08/10/23 to Tu. 08/15/23. Can I request that my account be put into snowbird or vacation status for long-term travel during those dates?: Requests to snowbird your account will be accepted during these dates; however, they will not be processed until after Tuesday, August 15, 2023. Part of processing these requests is obtaining a water meter read at the property. We encourage our customers to plan ahead and to notify the City as soon as possible, by Wednesday, August 9, 2023, if their request to snowbird their account so that a work order can be entered now to obtain the meter read while our utility billing system is down. Please keep in mind that the account must remain in snowbird status for at least 3 months.

19. I am moving to another home within Pasco. Will my account number change?: Yes, your account number will change. Account numbers are unique to the property and are assigned by service address and/or each water meter located at that service address. The new account number will follow the format of our new utility billing software – #12345678-002, as an example.

20. I would like to enroll in paperless statements. How do I do that and how soon is it effective?

To enroll in paperless statements for your City of Pasco utility bill, you must create an account for the Paymentus Customer Portal. Once you have registered your account and linked your utility billing account number to it, choose “Accounts” on the left-hand side, choose your account (or, if you have multiple linked accounts, the account you’d like paperless for), then click the “Paperless” toggle to Yes.

21. I want to pay the same amount each month. How do I sign up for your Average Payment Plan program?

To apply for the Average Payment Plan program, please visit our website at www.pasco-wa.gov, navigate to Utility Billing (under Departments), click Utility Billing Forms on the left-hand side, and complete and submit the online Application for Utility Billing Average Payment Plan form. You can also contact our office during normal business hours at (509) 545-3488 or email UB@pasco-wa.gov and request that an application be mailed or emailed to you. Or you are welcome to visit the Utility Billing Division in person to complete an application.

You will be notified in writing what your monthly payment amount is based on the average of your utility bills for the last 12 months, as well as the requirements of the program. Your monthly payment amount is re-evaluated in April and October of each year.

22. Will staff be available by phone during the conversion from Th. 08/10/23 to Tu. 8/15/23?

Utility Billing staff will be in office and assisting our walk-in customers to make utility billing payments using our alternate payment methods (see Q-6). Although most of our data will be imported, the Utility Billing staff will also be assisting in completing some required data entry into our new software for the conversion. With that in mind, from Thursday, August 3, 2023 until Thursday, August 24, 2023, the Utility Billing Division will have delayed response time to phone calls. Please leave a voicemail message and Utility Billing staff will return your call as soon as possible, in the order the messages are received. You may also contact our office via email at UB@pasco-wa.gov. There are also many requests that may be taken care of using our Utility Billing Forms online. Please visit our website at www.pasco-wa.gov, navigate to Utility Billing (under Departments), then click Utility Billing Forms on the left-hand side.

We understand that any software transition may bring a few adjustments, but our dedicated Utility Billing staff is working tirelessly to ensure a smooth transition. We will try to be as flexible and accommodating as possible during this transition period. Thank you for your patience and understanding during this exciting time of change. We are committed to enhancing our services and look forward to better serving you with our new Utility Billing software.