Questions & Answers
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Utility Billing
Civic Utility Billing supports all municipal utility services: water (metered volumetric), sewer (consumption-based with winter-quarter averaging), stormwater (impervious surface-based), waste collection (flat, cart-size, or bag-tag), and any additional services your municipality charges on the utility bill. Each service has independent rate configuration, billing rules, and GL posting — all on a single bill per account.
Pre-built connectors are available for Sensus FlexNet, Neptune R900/E-Coder, Badger Meter BEACON AMA, Itron OpenWay RIVA, and Kamstrup READy. Additional vendors can be integrated through the configurable AMI/AMR Connector API. The system also supports manual meter reading via mobile app with GPS route tracking and photo capture, as well as touch-read and drive-by collection methods.
Yes. Civic Utility Billing supports flexible billing cycles: monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, and cycle billing (route-based). Each billing cycle can be configured independently with its own schedule, due dates, and penalty grace periods. Budget billing (level-payment) is available for residential customers, recalculated annually with settlement.
Yes. The account management module supports owner-occupied, tenant-occupied, and landlord-managed account structures. Move-in/move-out workflows handle account transfers, final billing, deposit collection/refund, and meter reading coordination. Landlord dashboard provides visibility into all properties. Deposit requirements are configurable by account type and risk profile.
When a meter read is unavailable (communication failure, access issue, or unread meter), the system generates an estimate using configurable algorithms: historical average, same-period-prior-year, or weather-adjusted projection. All estimates are clearly marked on the bill and automatically trued up on the next actual read. Estimation rates are tracked as a billing quality metric.
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