Workshop Item: 3 - Joe Huss, Finance Director
Title
PROPOSED CHANGE TO UTILITY BILLING PROCEDURE
Background
Finance staff are proposing a change for the way in which the City currently bills single-family residential rental properties. Currently, bills are sent to the property address in the Renter's name. Staff is proposing to change that procedure and instead bill the actual property owner instead of the property renter. The change would bring a number of efficiencies. The city currently bills around 1,500 accounts in the renter's name. While this is a relatively small percentage of accounts, the amount of time spent maintaining these accounts is disproportionate to accounts billed to owners. Renters frequently change, requiring more frequent account changes. Renters rarely inform UB staff of changes to the account, creating the need for corrected bills. Accounts billed to renters have a higher percentage of delinquencies, and, in turn, a higher percentage of accounts billed to renters end up being certified to the county for collection each year. In Blaine's experience, renters have been more likely to file for bankruptcy than property owners, creating additional work for the Utility Billing staff. Considering the efficiencies to be gained with this change, staff is recommending to change the City's utility billing procedures to include billing all property owners rather than renters.
The transition of the accounts of renter-occupied homes to that of the owner would occur over the next several months, and initially only when Utility Billing staff receive notification of a change in renters. It is expected that, after a period of roughly one year (enough time to provide notification to all owners), the process would begin transitioning all renter-occupied single family residential accounts.
Recommendation
Seeking Council concurrence with regard to changing accounts from renter's name to property owner's name.