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• • <br />In following the previous workshop format, I had staff contacted <br />several similar utility operations to determine their time period <br />between the mailing of their bill and their payment due date. The <br />entities contacted and their periods are: <br />Entity Time Period <br />Baytown 15 days <br />Pasadena 12 <br />Seabrook 15 <br />Rosenberg 13 <br />Alvin 15 <br />Bellaire 10 <br />Friendswood 21 <br />Pearland 15 <br />South Houston 20 <br />Total 136 <br />Number of entities 9 <br />Average 15.11 <br />Recommendation <br />I recommend we reduce the amount of time allowed for payment of a <br />utility bill from 30 days to 2S days (15 days before penalty plus 10 <br />days before cut-off). I further recommend that if the reduction is <br />made, we reduce our deposit from the previously mentioned amount of <br />X100.00 to X75.00. <br />Reducang Hilling Cycles from 3 per month to 2 per month <br />For the past several years, the City of La Porte has had approximately <br />8,348 utility customers divided into three cycles. Which were: <br />Cycle # of Meters Percent <br />1 2,379 28% <br />2 3,637 44% <br />3 2,332 28% <br />Total 8,348 <br />Staff believes that it is advantageous to the City of La Porte to <br />reduce the number of cycles from three to two. The main reason for <br />this requested change is that it will reduce our work load because the <br />number of billing, penalty, and cut-off dates will be reduced by 33%. <br />Even though we will have more accounts in each cycle, we believe it <br />will be more efficient to handle more accounts in a cycle than to <br />continue with the current three cycles. By going to two cycles, we <br />will also have the opportunity to group our areas geographically and to <br />distribute the accounts more evenly. <br />Another perceived benefit of going to two cycles is an increase in <br />customer satisfaction. With two cycles, and the reduction in the <br />page 4 <br />