Billing Cycle Information

The City of Bozeman bills for water, sewer, and garbage once a month.  Water meters are read once a month approximately the 8^th-10^th of the month depending on the route in which your home is located.  Your service period is between your reading dates.  Therefore, we bill in arrears for your actual consumption.  Garbage service is billed from the first to the last day of the month.  All utility bills are processed and sent out by the last day of each month and are due on the 15^th of the following month.

How We Read Meters

The City of Bozeman uses radio frequency meters, which are read by handheld equipment from outside your home.  Most meters are read simply by driving by the home or building.  The read downloads from the meter into our handheld equipment.  Your water meter is usually located in the basement or crawl-space of your home or building.

Unit of Measurement

 The unit of measure that we use to bill water and sewer is hundred cubic feet (HCF).  There are approximately 750 gallons in one hundred cubic feet.

Payment Methods

Paying your water, sewer, garbage bill is simple.  We accept cash, check, credit and debit cards (Mastercard and Visa only) and money orders.   Automatic withdrawal from a checking or savings account is available if you own the property that you pay the water, sewer, garbage bill for.  For more information about this option, click here.  You may pay utility bills by mail using the return envelope provided or by mailing payment to: Utility Billing, P.O. Box 1230, Bozeman, Mt. 59771.  Please make sure that a payment stub is enclosed or that your account number appears on your check to ensure proper application of your payment.  You may also bring your payments to 411 E Main St.  If our offices are closed, you may drop off your payment in the payment box inside the Main St. doors.

Delinquent Water Bills

All City utility bills are due by the 15^th of each month.  We send out a courtesy reminder on the 16^th of each month for balances that are older than 45 days.  If, after this notice, the balance remains uncollected, the account may be subject to water being shut off.  There is a $25 service fee if the property must be notified of water shut off with a yellow door hanger. If your water is shut off due to non-payment, a reconnect fee of $25 during business hours and $75 after business hours will be assessed.  The full balance owing, the hang tag service fee, plus any reconnect fees must be paid in full by cash, money order or credit card before water service will be restored.  Someone must meet water department personnel at the residence to have the water turned back on.

Information for Property Management Companies

All City utility accounts must always stay in the name of the owner of the property, unless it is to be billed under a homeowner or condo association.  Tenants are not allowed to put the utility accounts under their name.  If you would like a tenant to receive a utility bill, we can send the bill to: Property Owner's Name, c/o current resident, at the service address.  In order to do this, the owner must sign the City of Bozeman Utility Waiver, (click here) or the property management company can send us written instructions to send the bill to the tenant.  If the property management company needs to receive the bill, we can do that also with written instructions. 

Since we bill in arrears, it is the property management company's responsibility to make sure the tenant has paid the bill through their move-out day.  Otherwise the debt may fall on the owner or the next tenant.  If you need help figuring out how to do this, feel free to give us a call. 

Garbage service can only be started with the permission of the owner of the property.  This may be given through a Utility Waiver or by the owner calling us directly.  Unpaid garbage and sewer charges are placed as a lien against the property.