For Immediate Release – January 20, 2021
Hermantown Revamps Utility Billing
Changes include moving billing due date to 10th of each month and more information on bills
Hermantown, Minn. – The City of Hermantown is revamping its utility billing procedures and processes to provide greater clarity and access for residents.
In terms of access, residents can now build a personal account in the City’s Resident Utility Portal, allowing them to make one-time credit card payments, set up regular, automatic credit card payments, and enroll in paperless billing with text message and/or e-mail notifications. Billing and usage history will also be populated in the portal beginning with 2021 bills, while previous year billing will still be available by contacting Lindsay Townsend, the City’s Utility Billing Clerk.
“The portal is going to be much more convenient for residents who want to make a quick credit card payment without having to leave home,” Townsend said. “In addition, residents will also be able to know their current balance or see prior bills from this year without having to contact City Hall.”
Residents currently having their utility payments drawn directly from their bank account do not need to make any changes in this new system, as their payment will be processed the same way it has in the past. Additionally, residents looking to add automatic monthly bank payments can also find the necessary forms on the Utility Department’s portion of the City’s website.
In terms of clarity, the bills themselves will include more information than in the past – a growing request from residents in recent years.
“We shifted to a postcard-sized bill several years ago to reduce costs, but the value of providing increased utility and billing information for residents has moved us to a more comprehensive bill format,” said Kevin Orme, Hermantown’s Director of Finance and Administration. “Ideally, we’ll have a vast majority of our residents utilize the new portal to opt into paperless bills, which will allow us to cut down on mailing costs while getting more detailed bills immediately to residents.”
Additionally, the Utility Department was able to shift the date of meter readings to align with this change in billing systems and with recommended best practices to cut down on the length of time between the reading itself and time in which the resident received the bill. This change does impact the date on which payments are due, which will now be the 10th of each month beginning in February of 2021.
Hermantown has nearly 3,000 residents who are billed monthly for use of the water, sewer, and stormwater utilities and an additional 800 residents billed semi-annually for the city-wide stormwater utility.
The website featuring Hermantown’s Resident Utility Portal can be found at www.hermantownmn.com/utilityportal.
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For more information, contact: Joe Wicklund, Communications Director – City of Hermantown at [email protected] or 218.729.3614.