Bill Explanation

Below is a breakdown of your utility bill. For additional questions, please contact Customer Service at (561) 822-1300.

Utility Bill example

  1. Account Number: Use the account number when you contact us.
  2. Previous bill: Prior bill amount.
  3. Payments: Total amount of payments made since the last bill/ billing period.
  4. Adjustment: Additional fees debited or credited to the account, such as: account delinquency, late fees ($10 late fee or 1% of the unpaid balance, whichever is greater).
  5. Past Due Please Pay Now: Past due balance.
  6. Current Billing Charges Due: Date payment must be received before incurring a late fee.
  7. Total Amount Due: The amount that the customer needs to pay.
  8. Customers Mailing Address: The address that this bill is being mailed to.
  9. Messages: The City often includes special messages and encourages customers to read this area to keep up with programs and other important changes/ updates from the City.
  10. Meter Number: A unique number that identifies the meter at the service address.
  11. Service Dates: Beginning and ending dates of the billing period.
  12. Days of Service: Total number of days billed this month.
  13. Previous Reading: Last reading recorded by the meter reader.
  14. Current Reading: Current reading recorded by the meter reader.
  15. Total Use: The amount of usage recorded for the current billing period. The City of West Palm Beach measures water consumption in CCFs or hundred cubic feet. One CCF is equivalent to 748 gallons. To determine the number of gallons of water used during a billing period, simply multiply the number of CCFs (the number shown on your bill under the Usage column) by 748.
  16. Residential/General Water
    • Service Charge: Minimum billing for active and inactive accounts. Residential is per dwelling unit and General is per meter size.
    • Usage: Charge for the total amount of water used for the billing period
    • Utility Tax: 10% utility tax of the water service charge and water usage
  17. Residential/General Wastewater
    • Service charge: Minimum billing for active and inactive accounts. Residential is per dwelling unit and General is per meter size
    • Usage: Charge for the total amount of wastewater used for the billing period based on metered water consumption
      1. Residential Service: No wastewater commodity charge will be applicable to monthly metered water consumption in excess of 16 CCF per dwelling unit
      2. Residential service accounts without City water service will be charged the maximum commodity charge per dwelling unit
      3. General Service: Wastewater commodity charge shall be based on all metered water consumption except in the case of irrigation service where no wastewater commodity charge is applicable
  18. Residential/General Sanitation
    • Garbage and Trash: Charge for garbage pick up
    • Recycling: Charge to recycle
  19. Residential/General Stormwater
    • Stormwater fees on the utility bill are determined by the service provided for Residential per dwelling unit and by the amount of impervious surface on your property for General. Impervious surface includes driveways, rooftops, garages, sheds, private sidewalks and patios (any hard surface). Greater amounts of impervious surface translate to greater amounts of stormwater that runs off into storm drains and ultimately into streams and lakes. This increases water pollution and the risk of flooding.
  20. Deposit: Required to establish an account.
    • Residential service: deposit amount billed. A deposit is required to establish service. The amount is dependent on a credit verification (see rate sheet). Residential customers who pay on time for 12 months will have their deposits credited to their account the following month. Should a utility service customer become delinquent, for any reason, after the utility service deposit refund has been made, the utility service customer shall be required to make a new utility service deposit in accordance with the provisions of Section 90-06(a) of the City code of Ordinances.
    • General service: deposit amount required to be paid in advance to establish service. The amount is dependent on the meter size and/or 3 months billing. General customer deposits are held for the duration of the account.
  21. Service Address: The physical address where the service is located
  22. This portion to be detached and returned with payment
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