Town of Victoria deals with billing confusion

Published 1:53 am Friday, July 25, 2025

Confusion has lingered about the town of Victoria’s billing cycle since a letter was sent out in April about the changes. So much so that Town Manager Rodney Newton took time at the Victoria Town Council Meeting on July 8 to make a presentation explaining the new billing cycle that hit on the first of the month and caused a stir when charges for some appeared to be double. 

“It has come to our attention that there remains to be some confusion regarding this process,” Newton shared with the Dispatch. “With our previous billing cycle the water usage being paid for was two months behind. On the bill that went out on July 1, it is showing your May usage as well as your June usage. This is why it appears as though your bill has doubled.”

In other words, the bill for July 1 showed water usage for May 1 through June 25 to allow for the cycle change. The bills received on July 1 for that usage period showed a previous balance due, but this previous balance is not a delinquent account, rather the only way the billing system would allow the clerk to capture the two different meter reading dates to make the cycle change.

The city chose to provide two options amidst the billing confusion. One is to go ahead and pay the full amount. The other is to spread out the May usage between payment for 12 months, which will show on the bill evenly every month. 

“This is an attempt to “catch up” on our billing so that we can more accurately depict the usage of your water,” Newton said. “Beginning August 1, the water bills will be for the previous month (July) water usage.”

The benefits of upgrading

Over the last several years, Victoria has been upgrading its water meters to digital electromagnetic meters that store data and provide more accurate readings. These meters replaced the analog mechanical meters that were outdated and could not store data. 

Under the old process, the analog meters took several days to complete readings for, then several more days of data entry by the clerk in the town office. To accommodate this, there was a gap between the water used and billed. 

Under the old process the meters were read between the 25th and 1st of each month and then the data was entered by the clerk the next few weeks. Being able to read the meters digitally means town staff can upload and process the data much faster, leading to faster detection of water leaks and high usage readings. 

Newton said the new billing cycle change provides the town with an opportunity to assist customers that may have an unexpected high usage for a billing cycle. With the old billing cycle, the data for the usage period billed was no longer available for review. With the new cycle the meter can be read and a printout provided of water usage by the hour for the last 30 days.

And if you have questions about the billing, you can contact town staff at 434-696-2343.