Cochran announces strict new water billing policy following concerns about consistency

Cochran city officials have announced a strict, newly-revised water reconnection policy, following residents’ concerns about billing. The new policy includes set cut off times for payment before fees and cut-offs occur, and states that 911 will no longer reconnect water after business hours. 

This announcement comes days after residents voiced their concerns that fees are not consistently applied to all customers. 

Interim City Manager Angela Redding announced multiple changes to the policy during last week’s city council meeting. The most notable of which is that 911 will no longer send personnel to reconnect water after hours. 

Other changes to the policy include setting a specific time and day before late and reconnection fees are applied. 

According to the city’s webpage, the current policy states that all utility payments are due on the 10th of each month. It also says that payments must be made by 4:30 p.m. to avoid late fees. If submitted past 4:30, the customer will be charged with a 10% penalty fee towards all city services.

Customers who haven’t paid their bill by the 20th at 4:30 p.m., including all incurred fees, will have their water turned off the following business day. They will also be hit with a $25 reconnection fee.

The new policy states that once a customer’s water is cut off, they will have to pay their bill by 4:30 p.m. to have their water turned back on the same day. After 4:30, they will have to wait until the following business day.

Cochran 911 will no longer send out city personnel to reconnect water after hours, even if the bill is paid in full.

“This change is being put into place to ensure fairness and consistency for all customers,” Redding said on Tuesday. “After regular business hours, we do not have a reliable way to verify that all necessary payments and reconnect fees have been received before restoring service.”

Another change is that payments are no longer considered past due on the 10th at 4:30 p.m. Redding told city council that late fees will not be applied until 8:15 a.m. on the 11th. Before then, the payment is not considered past-due.

Though payments are still due on the 10th of each month, the city won’t charge the additional 10% penalty if the payment is made before the following morning.

“To address customers’ concerns regarding utility billing and associated fees, the dropbox will be checked the next business day after the 10th of the month at 8:15 a.m. After 8:15 a.m. the following morning… late fees will be applied after the dropbox has been checked and payments are entered into the system.”

Redding also stated that the city will be better about calling customers warning them of their past-due payments before their water is cut off. 

According to Mayor Carla Coley, the city has received feedback from multiple customers regarding the inconsistency of water billing fees in the past. 

At last week’s city council meeting, one day before the new policy was posted, Cochran resident and business owner Britney Foskey used her public comment time to request the city be more consistent with billing in the future.

Foskey, who owns two businesses in Cochran, spoke at the podium on Tuesday, telling the mayor and council that the current inconsistencies in billing “didn’t sit right” with her.

According to Foskey, on the afternoon of the 10th, she was tied up at work and unable to take her payment to city hall, so instead she asked a customer to take it for her. The customer left her shop at around 4:00 and arrived at the drop box at City Hall at 4:35.

Foskey said that since she knew the bill was dropped off that afternoon, she didn’t give it a second thought. 

On the 21st, she received a call informing her that her businesses were on the cutoff list. Foskey said she immediately dropped what she was doing and went to city hall, where she learned her payment made on the 10th wasn’t made on time, leaving an unpaid 10% late fee on her bill.

“I know in the past I’ve dropped those off past that time, so [the 4:30 p.m. cut off time] was news to me,” she said.

After she agreed to pay the late fee, she was informed she would also need to pay a $25 reconnect fee per business to restore her water, bringing her new total to $105.

Foskey said that the situation didn’t sit right, but after talking to her councilman Shane Savant, she was under the impression that everything was fine. The following morning, her water was cut off.

Foskey later learned from her customers that late and reconnect fees weren’t being evenly enforced. She claimed she spoke with multiple people who missed their water payments in the past, and they told her they had their fees waived. 

Foskey told the council that it wasn’t the money that was bothering her, but the city’s transparency and inconsistency across all customers.

“If we’re going to do consistency, it needs to be consistent,” she said. “My biggest thing is that if we don’t take care of our businesses, we’re not going to be able to have a city that keeps growing.”

Coley told Foskey that other residents have also approached city council about the matter and that changes were being made. The following day, the new policy was posted to the city’s webpage and Facebook account.

This new policy is reportedly meant to clarify how the city will bill customers moving forward and increase consistency with past-due fees. 

As of Aug. 20, the policy is already in effect.