Thank
you for your questions to the Board of Water Supply regarding its
billing services for Kauai and Maui Country water departments.
We
were able to only respond on behalf of the BWS and cannot respond on
behalf of the counties. However, we are forwarding the other questions
to Maui and Kauai and asking them to provide their responses directly to
you.
Here are the questions and our responses:
As
a continuation of my efforts to understand the Honolulu Board of Water
Supply, its' function and services, I would like to ask several
questions regarding the BWS's relationship with counties of Kauai, Maui and their water ratepayers.
Does the Honolulu Board of Water Supply provide any type of service to Kauai or Maui counties' agencies? If yes, what type of service does it provide?
Yes. The BWS provides billing services to both Maui and Kauai Counties.
How long has the BWS been providing the service?
We are researching this and will get back to you.
Are the ratepayers' bills in Kauai and Maui counties based on actual, physical meter readings or electronic readers?
We have forwarded this question to Kauai and Maui Counties for their responses.
Does BWS the Kauai or Maui agencies use computerized estimates? If yes, what percent of the Kauai and Maui Bills are estimated? When did it start? Please provide the numbers for each agency separately.
We have forwarded this question to Kauai and Maui Counties for their responses.
How is information communicated to the BWS for issuance of bills to the Kauai and Maui ratepayers?
We have forwarded this question to Kauai and Maui Counties for their responses.
Does the Kauai and Maui agencies pay for the service?
Yes.
If yes, how much and whatever are the conditions?
We have forwarded this question to Kauai and Maui Counties for their responses.
Is the work covered under contract? How long has this practice been in place?
We have forwarded this question to Kauai and Maui Counties for their responses.
Does your BWS charge the Kauai and Maui ratepayers a service fee or other charges for billing?
No. The billing costs are collected by the county agencies through their customer fees.
Are the Kauai and Maui ratepayers billed monthly or bimonthly? If neither, please advise the type of billing process that is used.
Monthly.
Besides, billing, what other services does the Board of Water Supply provide to Kauai and Maui? Are they charged for these services?
The BWS provides only billing services to Kauai and Maui counties..
So
that we can get a better picture, could you please describe BWS's role
in the process from metering to the actual billing of the ratepayers
including delivery of information to BWS and its delivery of that information to your agency and the ratepayers.
The
BWS acts as a service bureau to process and bill the customers of the
other two counties. The BWS does not collect their meter readings, nor
does it handle customer service, collections or investigations for the
counties’ customers. The counties have direct access to the CC&B
system for their customer base only, to utilize the system and
information in their support of their customers.
We
hope we have answered your questions, except for the ones that the
counties need to respond to and the one that we are still researching.
May I request your assitance to please send me a quick email so we know that you received these responses?
Mahalo and have a pleasant weekend
~Tracy
Aloha, Mr. Cox~