2011 Budget Season Ramping Up

Each year we see a different backdrop informing our budget for the upcoming year” said Ken Andrews, Finance Director.  “While the housing downturn continues to impact our 2011 fiscal planning, we also see regional activities that too have an effect.”

This year the District has begun working with partners Clark County and Cities of Battle Ground and Ridgefield to explore the feasibility of creating a single entity to provide conveyance and treatment services to the three service areas.  While still in the feasibility study stage today, eventually this entity, if created, would have common business, financial, governance and operational planning, and provide treatment services to each of these three partners’ service areas in a way that reduces overall costs.

The District has also negotiated and signed a coordination of services agreement with the City of Vancouver to develop common standards for engineering, maintenance, operations and coordinated treatment service agreements.  This agreement lets the District secure a 30% rate reduction for the sewage treatment sent by the District to the City.   “We now are paying a wholesale rate, rather than a retail rate, for treatment,” Andrews said.  “Each year the District works hard to manage expenses and control rates, and our 2011 budget will be no exception.”

The District will be mailing notices to key stakeholders to announce the 2011 budget schedule.  Ratepayers with questions about the 2011 budget are welcome to attend Board workshops and meetings to provide comments.

2011 Budgeting Schedule

• October 26 – Budget Workshop #1 will review operations and maintenance expenses
• November 9 – Budget Workshop #2 will review the five-year forecast of proposed projects
• November 23 – Budget Public Hearing
• December 14 – Board action on the 2010 budget

How Do I Sign Up For An E-Bill?

District customers who wish to receive their wastewater utility bills via e-mail are only a few mouse clicks away from paperless utility billing. 
For added security, the District uses a two-part process for customers who wish to use e-billing—registration and verification. To sign up to receive an e-bill, you must first register using your latest District utility bill.  Click on the “Online Bill-Pay / View Account / E-Bill Enrollment” box above. You will be directed to the online bill payment log-in page.

To Register Your Account:

Under “Registration Options” (on the right side of the page) click on “Register using your utility bill”.

1. Enter both the first name and last name in all upper case letters and the account number exactly as it appears on your billing statement; enter your active e-mail address and create a password; then click “Register”.
2. If step 1 is successfully completed, the CRWWD account management window for your utility account will appear.

To Sign Up For E-Billing:

1. Log in to your account and choose “My Profile”.  Under Account Information, you will see “Verify E-mail Address” in red with “click here” to verify your email.  Select “click here”.  This will generate a verification message to be sent to your e-mail account.
2. Next log out of your utility account and log in to your e-mail account. You will see an e-mail requesting you to verify your e-mail address with a link directing you back to the CRWWD Customer Dashboard.  Click on this link, which will take you back to the CRWWD account log-in site. 
3. Log in to your account again, go to “My Profile,” “Your Accounts” and click on the account number.
4. Go to “Electronic Bill via E-Mail” and click on ”YES” and then on “Submit.”  (Note: this is also where you can elect to receive a paper bill too.)

If you need assistance registering for e-billing, please call the District office between 8 AM and 5 PM, Monday through Friday, at (360) 750-5876 and select option “1” for customer service.  One of the Finance Specialists will answer your questions and can walk you through the e-bill registration process.

Recurring Online Payment Options Are Now Available!

The District is pleased to announce that residential customers may now choose to have their sewer utility payments automatically charged to a Visa/MasterCard debit or credit card or automatically withdrawn from their checking or savings account on a recurring basis.  According to Ken Andrews, District Finance Director, “once customers set the process up online, the District will transact a payment every two months  on or near the due date noted on their bill.”

To ensure the recurring payment process goes smoothly, residents should note the following details:

• The utility account balance must reflect only the current billed amount of $68 or less when signing up for recurring, bimonthly payments.  Past due balances cannot be paid using the recurring online payment option.
• Customers, who currently use Auto-Pay (direct debit) to pay their bill through a checking or savings account deduction, should contact Customer Service to remove the Auto-Pay option before signing up for recurring online payments.  If the Auto-Pay option is not disabled, your payment will continue to direct debit from your checking or savings account.
• Verify that the payment appears on your bank or credit card statement after you sign up.  If a charge does not appear on your statement, please verify your utility account balance online and notify Customer Service.

Once logged into your account, the “Auto-Pay – NEW” option is on the top right hand side of the screen.  Several helpful comments are also available to guide you through the sign-up process.

For questions related to signing up for online recurring payments, or to have an existing Auto-Pay election disabled, please call the District office between 8 AM and 5 PM, Monday through Friday, at (360) 750-5876 and select option “1” for customer service. 

Update to District Standard Specifications

After completing an extensive internal and external review process, the District adopted revised standard specifications on April 13, 2010.  The standard specifications are incorporated in the 2010 Design Manual and became effective June 1, 2010.  For more information or to download a copy of the revised standard specifications, please visit CRWWD Specifications.  Thank you to all who were involved in the review process.