Dear Customer:

There has been an ongoing problem with the delivery of our bills to customers, and it is not improving. We have taken this matter all the way up to the Postmaster General without any improvement. Water District 1 policy, like other local water utilities, is that failure to receive a bill or payment does not waive late fees or penalties.

We are just as frustrated as you are with this situation. In our billing process, we print the bills in our Sanford office. We confirm the number of bills we printed matches our customer count plus the copies sent to other addresses. We carry the bills to the Post Office, where the Post Office adds the postage and takes responsibility for delivering the bills. Once the bills are in the Post Office hands, they are out of our control.

• Since we recognize the problems created by undelivered bills, we have implemented the following measures to address the problem:
• We accept payments by credit card over the telephone.
• We offer the option of Auto Draft from a checking or savings account.
• We offer Paperless Billing, where you get your bills through emails.
• We provide Online Access to your water account information. At www.waterdistrictone.org you can go into the online billing area up in the upper right corner of the website and search for your account by address. ONLY PUT IN THE NUMBERS OF YOUR ADDRESS because the system is picky about how it is typed out. Then all those addresses with the same number will come up and you can pick yours out. All your current information and history are there and accessible at any time.
• We offer pay ahead. We have many customers who pay ahead, especially those who go to warmer states during the winter months.
• We offer the option to pay small payments weekly or monthly. We have many customers who send us small checks each week and run a credit balance as to always have money in their account.

Bills are issued around the second week of February, May, August, and November. If you don’t have your bill by the end of that month, you can call us at 989-687-2709 and we would be more than happy to give you any information you need on your account. You can call ANYTIME during business hours for account information.

You might use the bill pay system offered by your financial institution. If you do, we offer this advice: The institution will take the money from your account and then print and mail a physical check to us. This process depends on the Post Office delivery and are sometimes delivered to us after the due date when a penalty has already been assessed. The best way to avoid this situation is to initiate the payment as early as possible through your bill pay system and then call the Water District before the due date to be sure we have received your payment.

We have added a calendar below that shows when bills are mailed and when they are due for your convenience. Again, if you have any questions about your account at any time during business hours, please call us. Business hours are 8 am – 12 pm & 1 pm – 5 pm M-F.

Thank you,
Water District #1 of Midland County Board of Trustees