Utility Billing Cycle Update

To better serve our customers and improve our billing process, the City of Buena Vista is transitioning to a more current utility billing cycle. This change will bring billing periods closer to the date customers receive their bills, making it easier to track water usage and identify potential billing issues.

What is Changing?

Previously, utility bills received around the first of each month reflected water usage from approximately 30 days earlier. For example, a bill mailed during the first week of September covered usage from July 1 through August 1.

With this change, billing periods will be brought closer to the current month. To make this transition, the November and December bills will each include approximately 45 days of water usage rather than the usual 30 days.

How Will This Affect My Bills?

During this transition, customers will see the following billing periods:

• November 2026 Bill: September 1 through October 15
• December 2026 Bill: October 15 through November 30
• January 2027 Bill: November 30 through December 30

The November and December bills will each include approximately two additional weeks of water usage. As a result, these two bills may be higher than usual because they cover a longer period of time. This is a one-time adjustment as the City moves to the new billing cycle.

Billing Reminder: The November and December bills will reflect a longer period of water usage than usual. A higher bill during these two billing cycles may be the result of the additional days included in the billing period and does not necessarily indicate an increase in daily water consumption.

Beginning with the January bill, customers will return to a regular billing period of approximately 30 days.

How Does This Help Customers?

This change will allow the City to more easily identify and investigate potential billing concerns.

Previously, when a customer contacted the City about a bill that appeared unusually high, staff often needed to review approximately 60 days of usage to determine what may have caused the increase.

With the new billing cycle, staff will be able to focus on the approximately 30 days of usage immediately preceding the bill. This will help streamline the review process, make it easier to identify potential issues, and allow staff to respond to customer concerns more efficiently.

The City appreciates your patience as we make this transition and work to improve our utility billing process.