Sean Belk
Staff Writer
Starting next month, Signal Hill residents and businesses will see a newly designed monthly water bill that will provide a more “organized and detailed view” of water services and charges, according to city staff.
The new billing format comes as the City has launched a major overhaul to its nearly 30-year-old accounting software that still uses a disk operating system (DOS), dating back to the 1980s, staff said.
The Signal Hill City Council at its meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 3, reviewed a draft of the newly designed water bill and provided suggestions to staff. Utility bills in the new format will be mailed the first week of March.
“Obviously, times are changing, and we’d like to get more information into the water bill so people can understand water conservation and water usage better,” said City Manager Ken Farfsing.
Last July, the Council approved entering into a $106,000 contract with Utah-based Caselle Inc. to provide the City with integrated accounting and special applications Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, according to a staff report.
Caselle’s Clarity ERP software is accounting-workflow management software that has a suite of integrated applications that the City can use to collect, store, manage and interpret data from its many activities.
“Staff has been in the process of converting to the new software since the end of November,” said Signal Hill Finance Director Terri Marsh. “Part of that process is updating and formatting a new water-utility billing statement that is easy to read but also contains in-depth, clear and detailed information about past consumption and a breakdown of the costs being billed.”
Marsh said the new billing format would also include “information that will encourage conservation on an individual level.” She said next week, the utility module will be implemented and, for the first time, customers will receive a new formatted statement next month.
Signal Hill city staff said the water-utility statements underwent a “transformation” to provide customers with “greater detail on their billings” and “improve customers’ understanding” of what they are being billed for.
“The bill layout is being expanded to show the fixed monthly service charge and the variable cost component of water usage, which establishes the customer’s monthly water bill charges,” the staff report states.
In the past, water bills have shown meter readings and the “units” of water that were used. It listed current charges in summary only and did not distinguish which charges were for the water usage and which charges were for the monthly service charge for having an established water account.
The new bill format, however, includes a usage calculation and lists the fixed, separate monthly service charge that is given according to the size of meter that is being billed, whether for single-family homes, businesses or homeowners/condominium associations.
The new water-bill format also shows the usage calculation at different “rate tiers.” Staff said this feature would be “helpful in identifying where a household or business can conserve water and also significantly cut down on their costs.” The water pricing structure used at the City of Signal Hill encourages water conservation with a “tiering” rate structure, according to city staff.
City staff noted during the Council meeting that all utility customers are expected to receive new account numbers with the new formatted billing. The new customer account number will be listed on the top, left-hand side of the new water bill, staff said.
The change in customer account numbers means that those customers who currently pay their City water bill through their bank’s website, also known as “bill pay,” must update the payee information on their bank’s website.
This action must be taken to ensure that payments are electronically applied to the correct account number in a timely manner, staff said.
Marsh said the new bill format is only the first step in the City’s process of updating its software, adding that eventually residents and businesses will be able to pay their monthly bills online.
“This is our first baby step, and after we get all of the rest of the modules and add-ons implemented, you’ll actually be able to get your statement online and you’ll be able to pay online,” she said.
Councilmember Tina Hansen noted that ratepayers who use direct deposit would likely want to have an online statement.
Vice Mayor Larry Forester said he would have liked to see the new format for homeowners/condominium associations, which use a different rate structure than businesses and single-family homeowners.
Marsh replied by stating that, while the charges and units are different, the new billing format will be the same for all ratepayers.
She added that the City is planning to send out notifications or a publicity page to notify customers of the billing-format change.
Other Council highlights
Presentations Mayor Ed Wilson introduced Sylvia Soong, the City’s new administrative assistant for the administration department.
Additionally, Wilson, along with Police Chief Michael Langston and Signal Hill Police Department (SHPD) School Resource Officer (SRO) DeAngelo Gossett presented the first-ever SRO Student of Character Award to Josephine “Josie” Ortiz. The award was designed to reward an outstanding student at Jessie Nelson Academy in Signal Hill. According to a statement from SHPD, the qualifications for the award were that the student must embody the Six Pillars of Character as set forth by the Josephson Institute, which are: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship. The student also had to be in good standing in terms of grades, attendance, teacher and administration support, behavior and participation in extracurricular activities, and they had to show an interest in continuing their education.
Mayor Wilson also presented a proclamation to longtime city volunteer Gary Weinberger, who announced that he is leaving the city to move to Palm Springs this month. He thanked the Council, Chief Langston and the community.
Additionally, Wilson presented Chief Langston with a plaque noting the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification issued by the United States Green Building Council for the new Signal Hill Police Headquarters building and emergency operations center (EOC).
Committee appointment The Council voted unanimously (5-0) to appoint Councilmember Lori Woods to the I-710 Project Committee as Vice Mayor Forester has resigned from the post.
The next Signal Hill Council meeting is scheduled for 7pm on Tuesday, Feb. 17 at the Council Chamber. ß
Signal Hill Police Department (SHPD) School Resource Officer (SRO) DeAngelo Gossett (far left) presents the first-ever SRO Student of Character Award to Josephine “Josie” Ortiz (second from left) during the Council meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 3. The award was designed to reward an outstanding student at Jessie Nelson Academy in Signal Hill. Ortiz is pictured with her family, right, Police Chief Michael Langston, third from left, and Mayor Ed Wilson, fourth from left.
