Frequently Asked Questions About Utility Bills

Why is my bill so high?

• Utility bills include all services such as water, refuse, street sweeping, sewer charges, recycling and green waste. Customers inside the city limits of Clovis are on water meters and charged according to the actual amount of water used over 10,000 gallons. The basic water charge is $16.00 for up to 10,000 gallons used.  Water use over 10,000 gallons is billed at a rate of $1.63 per 1,000 (from 10,000 - 35,000) gallons, $2.04 per 1,000 (from 35,000 – 70,000) gallons and $2.45 for every 1,000 gallons over 70,000.  Your bill goes out every two months and all the charges stay the same except the water. If you have used a large amount of water in the previous 2 months, your bill may be higher than you had anticipated. The minimum amount that your bill can be is $137.85. Included in that amount is 10,000 gallons of water 

Why is my bill the same amount as my last one?

• Your utility bill includes a minimum charge for water of $16.00. If you use from 1 to 10,000 gallons of water the bill will stay the same. It only changes when you use more than 10,000 gallons. Your water meter is read approximately the same time every two months. When meter readers read the meters they only read the thousands of gallons and not the hundreds or tens of gallons. For example, your meter could have had a reading of 4,869 the last time it was read and now the new reading is 4,878. The usage that would appear on your bill would be 9.  Your bill would be the same amount as your last bill even though you didn't use exactly the same amount of water because of the fact that only the thousands of gallons are used for billing purposes.

Why is my bill so high when I have cut back on watering since my last bill?

• Meters are usually read during the first 10 days of the month of the billing date. For example, if your bill had a billing date of 07/31/10, then your meter would have been read during the first 10 days of July. The bill that you would receive at the beginning of August would be for actual water use from the first few days in May to the first few days in July. If you start cutting back on water usage after those first few days in July, you may not see lower bills until your bill in September.

Why is my bill so much higher than my neighbor's bill?

• Many times neighbors like to get together to compare utility bills but this comparison does not reflect what may occur in your household. People will have different watering preferences and habits. Your neighbors may have fewer people in their households or different watering habits than your household may have. A better comparison would be using your own prior year's usage and comparing it to this year's usage. 

I live in the Tarpey area, why is my bill the same as my neighbor's bill?

• The Tarpey area is a special water district that the City of Clovis supplies water to. There are two types of water customers in Tarpey, unmetered and metered. The unmetered customers are billed in advance for their water service and the amount is determined by the total consumption of water by unmetered customers in that area divided by the number of unmetered customers. The minimum amount of a water bill for these customers is $95.20 every two months for up to 70,000 gallons of water used.  Water use over 70,000 gallons is billed at $1.65 per thousand.  If you and your neighbor don't have a meter, your bills will be the same even though you might not have the same amount of people in your households or the same watering habits. Metered customers are billed for water the same as customers inside the city limits of Clovis. If you own a home in the Tarpey area and are interested in installing a water meter you can call (559) 324-2130 to find out more information.

Where can I pay my bill?

• You can pay by phone or online through Paymentus.  You can also pay for your utility bill at City Hall. If you are paying by person you can come into City Hall to pay by cash, check or credit card during the hours of 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. If you are paying by check or money order, you can drop your payment in any one of the drop boxes located throughout the Civic Center complex 24 hours a day. Make sure you include the payment stub with your payment. If you don't have the payment stub you can still drop your payment in the drop boxes if you have the account number or service address written on your check or money order.  

How can I start or stop service?

• You can start or stop service 24 hours a day 7 days a week by calling (559) 324-2115 and choosing the option to start or stop service. If you are doing both you will need to make two phone calls to do so, one to start and one to stop service.  

How do I check for a leak?

• Often bills that seem to be increasingly higher can be the result of a leak. While the City of Clovis is always willing to help you better understand your water usage, it is unable to detect leaks for you. Before you call a plumber, you may want to take a few simple steps to see if you actually have a leak.
• Locate your meter. Most meters are located in the sidewalk in front of the house in a concrete box with a metal lid on it that reads "WATER," "METER" or both.
• Lift up the lid and take a look at your meter. You might want to take a rag with you to wipe off the meter so you can see it clearly. It does get very dusty and dirty between readings. Have a pencil and paper ready and write down all the numbers that are on the meter.
• Don't use any water inside or outside of the house for at least an hour or more. Make sure that you do this during a time when automatic sprinklers aren't going off or people in the house aren't going to use the water. After an hour or so has passed go back and read the meter again and write down all the numbers again.
• If any of the numbers have changed then this would indicate that you have a leak somewhere on your property and you may want to start looking for it as leaks tend to get worse over time.