Bathurst working to offer water and sewer billing online

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Now that the initial change to fixed rate water billing has taken place in Bathurst, the city is moving toward offering residents online billing.

City Treasurer Sonia Gauvin said during the May 8 regular public meeting, staff is focusing its efforts to finalize online billing so residents have the option to check their invoices and pay their bills online.

Gauvin said the step will help reduce the increased cost of postage fees the city’s incurred with the change to monthly billing from the former quarterly format.

“Those that do not want it, don’t worry, we won’t impose it,” Gauvin said.

Gauvin said paying online will also prevent people from being charged interest fees if the payment isn’t transferred from Service New Brunswick or the bank before the city’s next billing cycle.

The update on billing changes was part of a larger review of the transition to the controversial new flat rate billing system for residential users for water and sewer, from the former metered system, voted in by council in December.

Councillors Dale Knowles, Stephen Brunet and Darryl Branch voted against the fixed water rate.

Gauvin told council the “transition wasn’t perfect,” and could have been smoother had there been more time, but said that wasn’t an option financially for the city.

“I think we did the best that we could,” she said

With the current system in place, Gauvin said the city is projecting $4,160,603 revenues for water and sewer in 2024, which is currently an estimated $25,117 budget deficit for 2024.

“On a $4 million budget that’s probably as close as you can make it,” she said in terms of an estimation. “And it also means we didn’t charge $1 more than we had to. We weren’t looking to make a profit. We were just trying to make a switch from a metered system to service billing.”

Later in the meeting, Gauvin said she expects the deficit to be even less once billing for non-residential users, who continue to operate on a metered system, levels out as the year goes on.

The city offered rebates as part of the new fixed water rate bylaw. There were 84 accounts that paid in full before the Feb. 28 deadline to receive a five per cent discount on their annual bill, 23 accounts qualified for the 10 per cent low income discount and 327 accounts qualified for the guaranteed income supplement discount, Gauvin told council.

The change in billing came with a number of kinks to be ironed out, Gauvin said, including an issue where just over 100 multi-unit properties used as single family homes transferred to the city’s system from Service New Brunswick as multi-units.

The city staff also fielded as many as 70 messages in one day from residents requesting more information or clarification on the change, Gauvin said.

“We were expecting it, but obviously when a municipality goes through a change of this magnitude, it does require a little patience from citizens and a lot of gusto from staff.”

When accounts were cleaned up as part of the transfer, Gauvin said the city also realized some residents were being undercharged under the former metered system.

Later in the meeting lawyer Terrence Lenihan made a presentation to council on behalf of apartment building owner Jocelyn Muchaud and others in the city, requesting council consider returning to a metered system for large apartment buildings.

Lenihan said fixed rate billing, which charges per apartment unit, has driven up Michaud’s annual water and sewer bill from $9,800 to $26,900. He said it’s a cost that will be passed on to tenants, many of whom are low-income or students.

“That’s a very substantial increase,” he said.

Following the meeting, Mayor Kim Chamberlain said the water and sewer bylaw is in place for 2024 but council will have a discussion about Lenihan’s suggestion.