7/29/04

Town Utility Bills Get New Look and Packaging
Due to Public Demand, Letter-Sized Bills to be Mailed in Envelopes

A different look and packaging will greet Town residents and businesses when they receive their utility bills the week of August 1. Due largely to public demand, the Town is doing away with the postcard format. Instead, utility bills will be printed on letter-sized paper and mailed in envelopes.

Holly Springs residents have pushed for a different format for the bills because the postcard-sized bills were easily lost or misplaced. In addition to a more standard size, placing a letter-sized bill in an envelope gives residents added privacy, said Drew Holland, director of the Town of Holly Springs Finance Department.

“This way, billing information is only accessible to the customer,” he said. “We have been looking into using a different format for utility bills for a while, and checking what other towns are doing.”

The utility bills will be mailed to residents in an envelope, and a return envelope will be enclosed. The billing information is structured in the same format as the postcard, and the new bills will contain the same information. In addition, a larger tear-off remittance portion of the bill will have space on its reverse side for customers who need to change their billing address, correct customer information or inform the Billing Department of any problems.

The new bill format will create a noticeable time savings to Finance employees. The new bills will be processed in half the time it took to print the postcards. In addition, Holland said, he anticipates that fewer customers will call Town Hall regarding lost bills.

“We have been working toward this for a couple years, as the public demand for a different utility bill format has grown and as technology has improved,” Holland said.

In addition to the new format, the regular Town utility bill will be the only notice to customers who are delinquent in paying the previous month’s bill; the Town will no longer mail separate late-payment notices to utility customers before water is turned off. As always, any unpaid balance from the previous month’s bill will be noted on the current utility bill. If a customer has an unpaid balance from the previous month’s bill noted on the current utility bill, it is the customer’s responsibility to pay the Town that amount by the 15 th day of the month, in addition to a $5 late charge. Mailing late notices in addition to the regular utility bill that also indicated the late payment was becoming increasingly expensive, Holland said. He added that, while some residents thanked the Town for mailing the late notice, an equal amount of residents complained about receiving the additional notice.

If you have a question about your utility bill, or for more information about the new format, please call the Utility Billing Department at (919) 557-3920 or (919) 557-3922, or the Finance Department at (919) 557-2923.

Town of Holly Springs - PO Box 8 - 128 South Main Street - Holly Springs, NC 27540 - (919) 552-6221 - Holly.Springs@hollyspringsnc.us