Over the years, the City of Danville has been proactive in looking at methods to stabilize customer rates over long periods of time. One method to do just that is leveraging State and Federal Dollars to offset local City financial investments and fund capital improvement projects. In recent years, the city has invested in a new water treatment plant, automated meter reading systems, and various water tower and system upgrades. Such investments improve efficiency of water production and billing, increases capacity to further economic development, and translates to rate stabilization for longer periods of time for the customer base. According to Bluegrass Area Development District (BGADD), out of more than 17 cities, Danville’s minimum bill ranks below the regional average for In-City-Customers. Danville also ranks very near to the regional average for Out-of-City Customers.
One of the primary goals of switching to monthly billing is to better address customer service concerns, reduce overall water loss to the system, and better adhere to regulatory initiatives. If a customer had a leak, it wasn’t uncommon that the water loss didn’t become evident until the end of the previous bi-monthly cycle. Switching to monthly billing paired with advanced automated digital technology, this loss can be identified and remedied earlier on thereby reducing the negative financial impact to both the utility and to the customer.
COVID-19 had a tremendous impact to this region and more directly the citizens of Danville and Boyle County. Considering this, the City is intent on improving customer satisfaction and awareness regarding delivery of its utilities while remaining aware of financial burdens that extend beyond utility bills for the customer. The City of Danville has been proactive in partnering with BGADD to identify ways to reduce cost burden of outstanding utility bills. The City has also teamed with Bluegrass Community Action to provide direction for customers interested in pursuing the Low-Income Housing Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP) to again provide the customer with financial relief related to water bills. Information has been provided routinely to the customer base detailing how the customer may qualify for such financial aid.
Websites for further information:
https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/cdbg-cv/
https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ocs/programs/lihwap
The City is also actively updating its official website and re-negotiating the existing contract with the current credit card vendor to reduce the fees associated with online payments and to make future online account administration possible. Just this year, the See-Click-Fix Program has also been initiated to better provide customer feedback regarding issues that they may observe around the area for various issues including water main leaks, potholes, etc. This again allows the city to more efficiently meet the needs of the customer.