Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District

Importance of Outreach Support

EVMWD started outreach efforts to customers early and informed the customers to expect a new rate structure. The outreach effort, samples of which are included here

included pieces in EVMWD’s quarterly newsletter, customer bill inserts, as well as handouts on the front counter that could be given out to customers who interacted with EVMWD employees. Beginning in April 2009, an outreach piece was sent out on a monthly basis that continued through Board adoption of the rate structure in June, the first customer billing in August, and through September, when customers started to fully realize the effects of the new rate structure. EVMWD elected not to do shadow billing as part of its BBR implementation process. Rather, a customer billing calculator and comparison was made available online.

To help with customer calls and questions regarding the new billing structure, the Board authorized six temporary customer service staff positions for approximately six months, after which two were retained as permanent employees.