Mayor Scott Fadness told the City Council Finance Committee Thursday morning he is aware of the “noise” around town about his proposal to charge a $2 per month administrative fee as part of a proposed city-wide trash collection contract with Republic, but does not plan to make any changes.
“I’m a little bit unapologetic, I guess, about the $2 admin fee, because I want to make sure when a resident calls (City Hall), there is a staff person that picks up the phone and is able to deal with that issue.”
The mayor wants the city to “own” the customer service piece of the trash collection contract, which will start in January of next year, if City Council puts its stamp of approval on the new pact with Republic. A public hearing on the final version of the contract is set for Monday, September 9, 7pm.
Fadness recounted the complexities of acquiring HSE Utilities and what many residents were sorting out as a result. The mayor envisions a number of complications to occur when roughly half of the 32,000 trash customers in Fishers will be switching to another provider. Also, Homeowners Associations (HOAs) will no longer be handling the billing for their members, each individual customer will be billed beginning in 2025.
Although the city has been encouraging residents to pay their sewer and stormwater bills online, only about 30% pay online, the rest insist on being billed on paper. Radford says it costs 70 cents to one dollar for each paper bill mailed. Fadness says that makes up half the $2 monthly trash collection fee.
If any of the bidders for trash service were handling billing and customer service, it would not be free. The bids would have reflected a higher monthly charge to cover that cost, according to Fadness.
“The last thing I want to do is save people money on trash, and then they’re still frustrated because we are providing poor customer service,” the mayor told the Council Committee.
The main thing that struck me was the huge amount budgeted for invoicing/billing. How much could we save if we pushed for electronic invoicing & people setting up auto pay (i.e. modern utility invoicing)? Figure also that this would encompass the sewer and storm water billing, which probably budgets a similar amount. We’re getting into “real money” there.
I bet the city could still save money even if it added programs to subsidize internet for low-income households (to enable e-billing) or added customer support to help those not technology savvy enough to set it up the details on their own. If we’re “modernizing” the trash collection arrangement, let’s modernize the municipal utility billing while we’re at it.
Another option is to increase the invoice amount by $1/month, and provide a $1/month discount if you enroll in electronic billing. Pass those costs along to the those that “insist” on paper bills.
Totally agree. After the first quarter most of the issues with the changeover should be worked out. Other service providers are charging for paper billing, so only charge those opting for that.
I pay my other utilities with monthly billing to a credit card. Most are paperless except when a rate changes. Keeps things easy and organized. City sewage bill doesn’t allow that. Looks like trash will now be the same. 3% bank fee is a lot cheaper than the postage fee the city is paying to mail the bill. Seems the city should catch up and add recurring credit card billing.
Or an ACH withdrawal on a bank account, which should have NO fee.
I. Would prefer to pay my trash bill quarterly thru my bank.
We go electronic/ACH anywhere that option is made available. But while the mayor may thumb his nose at $2 service fees, please keep in mind that we are literally nickel-and-dimed to death on service fees in Fishers — especially if you have kids in HSE schools, where at least five different 3rd party vendors collect money for lunch, fees, sports tickets, band concerts, and theater performances. At least with sales/property taxes there’s some kind of societal return, however invisible. Service/convenience fees — which can easily reach hundreds of dollars annually — go straight into private pockets.
The city is FLUSH with cash from the property tax assessments. They can’t spend our money fast enough. I don’t see ANY fiscal responsibility nor transparency. Just STOP with all the fees! Tight YOUR belt City of Fishers!