Budget Billing

The Finance Department is responsible for the administration, direction, and coordination of all financial services of the City involving financial planning, budgeting, treasury management, investments, purchasing, accounting, payroll, business licensing, insurance, and utility customer services.

Budget Billing

What is budget billing?
When are applications accepted?
What is the eligibility criteria for budget billing?
How do I participate in budget billing?
How is the budget billing amount determined?
How often are budget billing amounts reviewed?
When are accounts settled?
When can I discontinue budget billing?

What is budget billing?

Budget billing is a program available to City of Columbia utility customers to even out their energy costs by paying the same amount each month.

When are applications accepted?

Applications may be submitted during the month of March only.

What is the eligibility criteria for budget billing?

To be eligible for budget billing you must:

Have a 12 month billing history at your current location
Be current in your utility payments
Agree to pay the full budget amount each and every month by the due date
Agree that any payment less than the budget amount will be subject to shut-off
Agree that if shut-off for non-payment, the account is not eligible for budget billing for a calendar year
Agree that after two delinquent payments, the account is not eligible for budget billing for a calendar year
Agree that budget billing accounts are ineligible for time extensions or payment agreements
Agree that March is the settle up month, if the account has a credit balance that balance will be applied to the April bill
Agree that if the account has a debit balance, that balance, along with the current bill, will be due by twenty (20) days after the bill date

How do I participate in budget billing?

You may participate in the budget billing program by submitting your application online or by completing the application form and returning it to Utility Customer Services.

How is the budget billing amount determined?

A budget billing amount is established by taking the previous 12 months’ actual bill and dividing it by 11.

How often are budget billing amounts reviewed?

The amount is reviewed on a quarterly basis and the amount may be adjusted at that time. The customer will be notified in writing if their budget billing amount is changed.

When are accounts settled?

Accounts are settled up each year in the month of March. If there is a balance owed, it will be included in the March bill amount.

When can I discontinue budget billing?

Budget billing may be discontinued during the year by notification from the customer. The City will choose to discontinue a customer’s budget billing if the customer is delinquent twice during the budget billing period.