City: Incorrect bills due to tech issue involving export; customers' information not compromised

A software error caused up to one-quarter of utilities customers to receive incorrect bills from the City of Cape Girardeau in recent days, city officials said.

City of Cape Girardeau public information manager Nicolette Brennan said Tuesday there was no issue with the city�s account logs; instead, the error occurred in the exporting process using the city�s new Munis Utility Billing software by Tyler Technologies before the billing data was sent for printing and mailed.

In a statement posted to the city�s website Tuesday morning, city officials said, �all payments and account information are correct and secure � no customer action is necessary.�

Brennan said the affected bills are dated Sept. 12, and customers may verify their current account information by contacting the city.

The city�s billing procedure sends about a quarter of the total bills each week in what are called meter cycles. The customers who received the erroneous bills were part of the city�s meter cycle 2, which includes much of the city�s northwest corner. A map of the affected area can be found on the city�s website at www.tinyurl.com/y7vbtyuu.

Since the error did not affect the city�s actual logs, automatic payments were not affected and Brennan said no customers who might have tried to pay according to the incorrect bills would have been able to do so, as city staff had access to the correct account information.

�We apologize for this inconvenience and will continue working to make sure bills are sent in a satisfactory manner in the future,� the city said in its posted statement.

tgraef@semissourian.com

(573)388-3627