Copperas Cove: Some customers experiencing water bill issues

Some Copperas Cove water customers have been experiencing recent billing discrepancies, which may be caused by the city switching from analog to digital water meters starting October 2016.

Copperas Cove resident John Sanders said he never received a bill for water charges in December.

While most bills are automatically taken from his account at the beginning of the month, Sanders said charges due January 5th still have not gone through.

"I just don't want to have it where my water gets turned off because they say no payment, but yet I'm set up for automatic draft and you never took the money out,” Sanders said. “And I always have money set aside every month in my account towards the end of the month no matter what."

The city said there are several challenges with the new system.

First, the billing software used by the city doesn’t easily integrate with the software used by the collection network.

The city is working with the contractor to import the meter read files into the city’s billing software.

Another challenge includes verifying both the old analog readings and the new digital readings, which has to be done before billing, the city said.

Changes in customers at locations also present challenges, according to the city.

"The City is extending customers the flexibility of 60 days to pay this utility bill and the next utility bill, without any penalties or late fees, from the bill date for each cycle beginning with the billing on December 9th for cycle 3. The utility bills sent in December and January are on an abnormal schedule. It is anticipated that utility billings will be on a normal and consistent basis by February 2017," the city says.