HomeMy WebLinkAboutIR 10075 INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 10075
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council December 12, 2017
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*a SUBJECT: EFFORTS TO PROMOTE PAPERLESS BILLING
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The City Council has expressed a desire to move more water customers toward receiving their utility bill
electronically in lieu of a mailed paper statement. The enhanced adoption of e-notification or "Paperless billing"
promotes going green and limits the cost of billing for the Utility.
One of the primary objectives for the Water Department is to continue to expand service offerings to its customers,
while also promoting operational efficiencies and cost savings. Customers have had the ability to pay their utility bill
electronically since 2002, with the implementation of H2Online. An update of the billing system software
performed in 2012 enabled the Water Department to offer e-notification to its customers as an option for going
paperless. This service offering followed the outsourcing of bill production and mailing services in 2010. The e-
notification option provides customers with an email link to the online statement when their bill is available for
review and payment and allows customers to opt out of receiving a paper billing statement.
To ease the transition to paperless, customers can elect to continue receiving a paper bill after the e-notification
occurs. At this time, a total of 36,692 customers out of a total of 246,957 accounts (15%) are receiving an e-
notification each month. Of this amount, 19,356 customers have opted to discontinue their paper bill and go
entirely paperless while the remaining 17,336 have opted to continue receiving a paper bill in addition to the e-
notification. Adoption rates for paperless utility billing in Fort Worth are slightly below the national average for
water/sewer utilities. The most current results (2016) of an annual survey conducted by FisSery shows that utility
customers are less likely to move to paperless billing than consumers in other industries.
E-Billing Adoption Rates by Industry 43% 45%
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ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS
INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 10075
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council December 12, 2017
h�T�i7 Page 2 of 2
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{i7 Y
*a SUBJECT: EFFORTS TO PROMOTE PAPERLESS BILLING
#qrF rn
1075
Since implementation of the e-notification, the Water Department has primarily promoted the feature in bill inserts
and online through H2Online. Given the low adoption rates; the Utility is making changes to more aggressively
promote this option in an effort to streamline services. In addition to current strategies, the Water Department will
begin adding customizable text on the monthly water bills to encourage both e-notification and autopay, as well as
developing separate communication pieces (such as a mass emails and postcards) to send to all customers. The
option will also be promoted on social media. In addition, this fall the department altered its Call Center scripting to
encourage customers establishing a new account to choose bill e-notification and to encourage those calling in for
other services to switch to e-notification.
Finally, the Water Department has partnered with the Behavioral Insights Team (BIT) to more proactively engage
customers in the e-notification option. BIT is part of the What Works Cities team for Bloomberg Philanthropies and
has worked with many cities in the United Kingdom and the U.S. to drive specific customer action based on
randomized, scientifically-based testing. The team works with governments and other organizations concerned
with "social good" to ensure that realistic models of human behavior are used to implement policies and services.
Currently, the Water Department staff is actively working with the BIT team to develop a campaign strategy to
encourage paperless billing.
The first step will be to target those 17,336 customers who are currently receiving both the e-notification and the
paper bill to encourage them to eliminate the paper bill. In 2018, the option to receive both a paper statement and
e-notification will be removed from the website. Providing the option of receiving both is not common in the
industry and has served to limit full adoption of paperless billing.
As the Water Department moves forward with the MyH2O program, retail customers will also be provided with new
tools and information to better understand and manage their water use. The program includes implementation of a
new customer portal that will enhance the customers' experience by providing valuable, personalized information
about their water use as well as additional billing and payment capabilities. This portal will facilitate customers'
abilities to see their usage in greater detail than currently available in paper form, lessening the need for a paper
bill. In addition, through the MyH2O program, it is anticipated that customers who have more than one account will
be able to align multiple payments. Currently, customers can associate multiple accounts for viewing but cannot
provide a consolidated payment.
In addition to the "green" sustainable aspects of going paperless, the Water Department is also supportive of
paperless billing due to its cost effectiveness. It currently costs $.46 to process, print and mail each paper bill.
Conversely, the cost of each paperless bill is $.05 to suppress the printing and mailing of the bill. This results in a
cost savings of $0.41 per bill to go paperless. Should you have any questions regarding the Water Department's
strategies to promote paperless billing, please contact Kara Shuror at 817-392-8819.
David Cooke
City Manager
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS