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BACKGROUND The City of Pleasanton Utility Billing staff is responsible for reading all City water meters on a bi monthly cycle. Staff then prepares and mails bills for payment, process payments as they are received, and respond to customer issues in the field, by phone or online. Sewer payments are also included in this billing cycle. The Utility Billing division receives between 150 -400 payments per business day through the mail (approximately 5,000 per month). This requires up to two people an average of two hours per day, each, to open the mail, process the payments, reconcile accounts, resolve discrepancies and prepare bank deposits. DISCUSSION Use of Technology to Become More Efficient The Utility Billing division is working towards greater efficiency, with an ongoing goal of accomplishing more with the current staff available. An integral component of this effort is the use of available technology and services. To that end, four areas have been targeted: Increase the use of Automated Meter Reading (AMR) devices in the field Utility Billing software enhancements Print and mail bill services and electronic bill presentment Payment remittance processing service The City has installed 5,000 AMR devices on individual water meters in sections of the City that allow staff to obtain accurate billing reads as they drive through a route. This is in contrast to meters without AMR devices, where a staff member must walk the entire route, lift each meter cover and manually record the meter dials. Staff will propose the installation of additional AMR devices as funding becomes available. The Utility Billing software is in the process of being enhanced to complement the technological upgrades discussed here and to improve report writing capabilities. Later this year staff will be exploring contracting for the printing and mailing of utility bills as an alternative to processing bills in -house as use of such a specialized service may reduce costs. Payment remittance processing service The Utility Billing division currently receives and processes approximately 5,000 bills per month through the mail. Processing this volume of mail, reconciling accounts, resolving discrepancies and preparing bank deposits is a time consuming task, often requiring two Utility Billing staff members up to two hours, each, per day. Staff invited proposals from Bank of America (the City's main banking relationship) and Union Bank of California to provide remittance processing services (commonly referred to as "lockbox" services). Utility bills would be mailed by customers using a return envelope addressed to the bank's processing center address at City of Pleasanton, do Union Bank of California, 460 Hegenberger Road, Oakland, CA 94621. Customers will receive a notice of this change along with a brief explanation on their utility bills when Page 2 of 3