April 2024 utility bills did not include sewer consumption charges due to a system error. Not all customers are impacted. We are issuing supplemental bills to capture those charges for affected customers. Please see our website at www.sumnerwa.gov for more information. We apologize for the error and the inconvenience.
What exactly is this charge?
This is a charge for your sewer consumption that should have been included in the previous bill you received for April. In fact, your previous April bill was likely lower than usual for your typical monthly utility use. This second bill is not a new charge; it is not a new fee; and it is not a penalty or late fee.
How did this happen?
The software that runs our utility billing did a routine update, as all software does. Unfortunately, this update included a hidden error that kept the sewer consumption portion of your monthly bill from charging correctly. When the software company realized this, they issued a subsequent update that fixed this new issue. However, as luck would have it, the City of Sumner printed our April bills in between those two updates, not realizing there was an issue.
What should I do?
There are two main scenarios:
- If you already paid the first bill, you can pay this second bill online or via check as normal. Or, you can wait and pay this second bill together with your May bill. We will not charge any late fee on this second portion of your bill as it was our error.
- If you have not paid the first bill, you can pay the full amount of both bills combined. If you pay online, your total due now reflects the full amount, including a total of both bills combined as your normal April bill should have been in the first place. If you pay by check in mail or drop off, you’ll need to add the two bills together for your total amount due.
You’re not charging late fees on April bills?
We are not charging late fees on this portion of the April billing that’s enclosed in this second bill. We will charge late fees/penalties as normal on any portion of the first bill not paid on time.
Why can’t you just “forgive” this amount since it was your error?
We are a municipal utility. That means users pay their portion for services they used. If they don’t pay for it, other users pay instead. By law, we have no opportunity to “forgive” charges for services used.
