City officials said Thursday that some modifications have been made on sewer bill payments to a California firm after an outcry of complaints.
The city and county contracted with the firm after Tennessee American Water Company quit including the sewer bill with the water bill.
Richard Beeland of the mayor's office said, "In response to numerous concerns expressed by City of Chattanooga, WWTA, and city of Rossville sanitary sewer system users relating to new billing payment methods and convenience fees associated with payment, the following changes have been implemented:
1.
Going forward there
will not be a $3.00 fee per month for recurring payments via echeck.
2. Anyone that is currently on the recurring payment program via echecks will not have to pay a $3.00 recurring fee; anyone charged the $3.00 fee will receive a $3.00 credit to their account.
3. ENCO, the billing service contractor, will reprint the back of all bills to reflect the elimination/removal of the $3.00 fee for the recurring bank draft made via echeck. (after the existing stock is used) However the front of the invoice will include a note that states - there is not a $3.00 fee for payments fee via echeck. There will still be a $3.00 fee for all online, all IVR operator assisted payments and recurring payments via credit cards.
4. The issue of the, “less than 15 days notice from the bill date,” has been resolved. Going forward, ENCO will always have a due date of 15 days from the day the bills are mailed - which is consistent with other utility payments.
5. If you pay at a payment center such as Walmart you will pay a transaction fee to the processor for making a payment. At this point in time these payment centers only take debit cards or cash and no checks or credit card. This was not a change. Please allow 3 business days for these payments to post to your sewer billing account
6. There is no fee for mailing in payments with a check or a bank bill pay check initiated by the customer; please do not mail cash.
Thank you for your feedback and patience as we work through this change in your City of Chattanooga sewer billing method. Should you have any questions about your bill, please call 3-1-1 (425-6311).