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Lancaster water bills causing confusion

Lancaster City changed its water bills and gave residents more options to pay.What was meant to be convenient has caused confusion, even anger, for some water customers.Instead of seeing this utility bill four times a year, the Lancaster Water Department is sending it once a month.Plus, the city is pushing for paperless billing, to reduce costs and save resources — but if you pay online, it could cost you more.The Lancaster City Water Department used to bill customers quarterly but, in August, switched to monthly invoices.The city cites convenience for residents, budgeting for a monthly bill, but says it could also help find water leaks more easily. “As you get quarterly bills, you aren’t able to detect if they are increasing as quickly, so this is a way to detect leaks a little bit faster,” said an employee of the city of Lancaster, Tina Campbell.The city also says you don’t need to get this paper bill either.”We’d love to see more people signing up for e-bills, signing up for online payments, ” Campbell said. Some customers who switched to online payments, though, are surprised by a convenience fee — 3.25% of your bill.”The fee that’s charged for online payments is a fee the city is charged for online payment processing, so we are passing that fee on is one that the city is charging and is not one that we receive income from,” Campbell said. The city says it just updated its website, including how-to videos, hoping to answer customer questions and guide residents through the change – even if there are some bumps. “As technology changes, it’s good to change with it,” Campbell said. While it’s good to keep up with the technological changes, the city reminds that you can still get a paper bill and you can still mail a check.

LANCASTER, Pa. —

Lancaster City changed its water bills and gave residents more options to pay.

What was meant to be convenient has caused confusion, even anger, for some water customers.

Instead of seeing this utility bill four times a year, the Lancaster Water Department is sending it once a month.

Plus, the city is pushing for paperless billing, to reduce costs and save resources — but if you pay online, it could cost you more.

The Lancaster City Water Department used to bill customers quarterly but, in August, switched to monthly invoices.

The city cites convenience for residents, budgeting for a monthly bill, but says it could also help find water leaks more easily.

“As you get quarterly bills, you aren’t able to detect if they are increasing as quickly, so this is a way to detect leaks a little bit faster,” said an employee of the city of Lancaster, Tina Campbell.

The city also says you don’t need to get this paper bill either.

“We’d love to see more people signing up for e-bills, signing up for online payments, ” Campbell said.

Some customers who switched to online payments, though, are surprised by a convenience fee — 3.25% of your bill.

“The fee that’s charged for online payments is a fee the city is charged for online payment processing, so we are passing that fee on is one that the city is charging and is not one that we receive income from,” Campbell said.

The city says it just updated its website, including how-to videos, hoping to answer customer questions and guide residents through the change – even if there are some bumps.

“As technology changes, it’s good to change with it,” Campbell said.

While it’s good to keep up with the technological changes, the city reminds that you can still get a paper bill and you can still mail a check.