6.1. ERMUSR 02-14-2012 - Laserfiche WebLink

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weather rule winter months, a payment arrangement is entered into and they have to break the payment arrangement, and not enter into another payment arrangement, in order for shut-off to occur (however the red tag notice is still hung.) Very few shut-offs occur in the winter, but they do happen. Some customers make very small payments and continuously break and make new payment arrangements during the winter months. This puts them at a disadvantage and they end up getting behind and can accumulate a lazge balance come April 15`s when the cold weather rule protection ends. The above structure doesn't take into account the personal phone calls that aze made to customers throughout the process when a problem has been identified. Due to volume, we can't physically contact all by phone, but these phone contacts are still made as best we aze capable. Every quarter we process the write-off/assessment/collections. These aze the customers that have not paid, and have been turned off. ' In most cases, the customers have left town and left the balance behind as well. Once they have moved out, our only recourse is good forwarding address and contact information, which is usually hazd to come by for those not wanting to provide it. The size of the write-off varies greatly depending on the customer's usage bill. If a monthly bill is $50, the write-off could be a minimum of $100 - $150. If the monthly bill is $300, the write-off could be a minimum of $600 - $900. These minimums aze not taking into account the winter month's potential accumulations, which obviously makes these balances only higher. The collection process is very routine and structured, aimed at contacting the customers quickly and consistently to collect payment. We realize that communication is key and aze continuously improving the collections cycle. The more contact we have eazly with the customer, the more likely they are to pay. Our Collections Specialist is a member of the local Chambers as way to introduce and become familiaz with the commercial customers so a contact can be established eazly on. This year we will be implementing an automated calling process with the purchase of some additional equipment which will provide another contact point with our customers. Looking for, and introducing, additional collection venues is also helpful. We aze very excited about seeing the payment return from the Revenue Recapture program with the State of MN we implemented last year. The collection process is as successful as it is due to the hazd work of our Collections Specialist, Michelle Martindale. She couldn't do it without the support of yourselves and the staff of ERMU, yet the majority of the responsibility and implementation of the process is borne by her, and she should be commended for a job well done. If you have further questions on the process, please let me know and we'll get them answered for you.