City officials are blaming a recent “cyber event” for a disruption in the way residents’ water bills are generated. The problem was brought to light three weeks ago – on Feb. 20 – and, as a result, some computer systems the city uses had to be taken offline.
At Monday’s City Council meeting, City Manager/Attorney Hassan T. Kingsberry told Council members that the city has “gotten rid of” the previous IT provider, whom he did not name, and said “we’re going to keep the city safe and this will not happen again.”
Details of exactly what happened are limited, but what is known is that people are still responsible for paying their water bills.
A recorded message sent to city residents stated that until the issues are resolved, “customers will not receive a utility bill or have pre-authorized payments deducted from their account.”
The city will not impose late fees or penalties while they work through the computer challenges created by the cyber “event,” it doesn’t mean you don’t have to pay your bill.
The recorded message provides information about how residents can pay water bills.
“While we are still able to collect payments, we cannot provide accurate account balances. The balances shown on MyGovhub are not correct, but you can still make payments through that platform. When making payments in person, please bring your utility bill and ensure you keep your receipts for your records.
Appropriate legal notices will be sent to all impacted customers and employees regarding the cyber event.”
Kingsberry said he is working to get in-house IT support and announced at the Monday meeting that Leo Mata is the city’s new IT manager. Kingsberry said he hopes to get one – and possibly two additional employees to work specifically with network issues.