The City of Helena is an equal opportunity employer. The City shall, upon request, provide reasonable accommodations to otherwise qualified individuals with disabilities.
Job Purpose:
This position performs a variety of highly technical accounting and administrative duties, customer service, and special projects in support of Finance - Utility Customer Services Division. The Utility Customer Services Division is responsible for processing occupational, business and animal licenses; billing and receipting of water, sewer, residential and commercial solid waste, curbside recycling, intrusion alarms and fire alarms and providing excellent customer service over the counter, on the phone and in written communication.
This is a centralized City function, which serves, supports, and enables other City operations, and regularly works with outside agencies and the public. Assistance is provided to supervisors and other departments and divisions.
This position assumes training and mentoring other staff in addition to leading workflow to ensure daily operations and responsibilities are being carried out within established guidelines.
Essential Duties: These job functions are the essential duties of the position and are not all-inclusive of all the duties the incumbent may be assigned.
40% - Lead Functions
- Train and mentor other utility accounting technicians.
- Prepare daily, monthly, quarterly, and annual workflow plans for the division and assign tasks to other staff to ensure daily operations are being carried out within established guidelines.
- Communicate with supervisor about daily operations; bring to the attention of the supervisor of any operational deficiencies.
- Perform some of the more analytical and challenging aspects of various duties and projects such as the following:
o Create, maintain, post, and reconcile curbside recycling program monthly charges.
o Create queries, analyze, and compile data as necessary to provide information or for internal/external audit purposes.
o Investigate and resolve problems with customer accounts.
o Serve as an information source regarding the more complex or unusual billing policies, procedures, objectives, and operational functions.
o Provide technical assistance to software vendors with support issues.
o Develop and maintain procedure manuals.
o Calculate and input rate changes, route changes, charges, and credits.
o Provide support for the Accounting Division’s reconciliation of the general ledger.
o Participate in and provide informational support on a variety of organizational studies, operational studies, and investigations.
o Responsible for department records retention
o Recommend and prepare customer account payment arrangements for supervisor to approve
o Review, apprise, and assist City Attorney staff in the collection of delinquent accounts deemed uncollectible.
40% Utility Accounting Functions
- Collect, reconcile, receipt, post, and deposit utility payments from customers, staff, and the public daily. Research and resolve payment discrepancies.
- Research, record, and prepare “exception” statements.
- Provide balance and payment information and assistance to customers, staff, and the public.
- Present payment options to customers and establish each account to comply with customer requests.
- Transfer monthly meter readings used to calculate current utility statements.
- Calculate and manually enter miscellaneous accounts receivable submitted by other departments and outside entities.
- Prepare monthly bills for all customers and assure monthly cycle of bills is transmitted to outside vendor for printing and mailing.
- Coordinate with various City departments to establish, verify changes, maintain customer accounts, calculate, bill, and collect for various charges.
- Monitor all utility and miscellaneous accounts for delinquency.
- Generate and mail delinquency notices.
- Review and issue shot off notices to delinquent water/wastewater customers.
- Work with delinquent customers to negotiate and maintain payment contracts; ensure appropriate fees are collected before service is reestablished.
- Coordinate service terminations with Utility Maintenance, Transfer Station, or other City personnel as appropriate.
- Create and maintain delinquency roster for utility and miscellaneous accounts and distribute to appropriate department personnel.
- Coordinate between City Treasurer, City Attorney, and other operating personnel for collection of payments returned from bank or e-pay vendor.
- Responsible for issuing, renewing, collections and reconciliation of many types of City licenses including business, animal, and liquor licenses.
- Maintain a thorough knowledge of City ordinances, policies, and procedures related to licensing to allow for proper processing and communication with licenses.
20% Administrative Functions
- Provide customer service on all utility accounts, licenses, and miscellaneous accounts, in person, by phone, and by email.
- Respond to specific and technical requests for information and assistance from customers, City staff, and representatives of other organizations.
- Investigate and coordinate customer services with appropriate city department personnel to ensure problems are resolved quickly and efficiently.
- Handle customer complaints, maintaining a composed and courteous manner.
- Establish, verify changes, and maintain customer accounts.
- Utilize relevant information (geo code, physical address, property owner name, contractor name, meter size, commercial or single/multi family structure) acquired from the Building Department construction reports to create new utility accounts.
- Performs other duties and assumes other responsibilities as apparent or delegated.
Essential Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Related to this Position:
Knowledge of:
- Customer service techniques including active listening and problem-solving skills
- Modern office practices, methods, and computer equipment
- Complex, menu driven billing software and how it related to the general ledger software.
- Operations, services, and activities of a utility billing program.
- Principles of mathematics
- Principles and procedures of record keeping
- Principles and practices of data collection and report preparation.
- Basic accounting principles and practices.
Skill or ability to:
- Communicate effectively both orally and in writing.
- Establish, maintain, and foster positive, harmonious, and effective, professional working relationships with employees and the public.
- Multi-task and work with routine interruption.
- Prioritize work assignments to assure and order and timely workflow within the division.
- Perform effectively under pressure and meet deadlines.
- Perform varied and responsible fiscal and operational duties involved in the completion of division operations.
- Research, compile, analyze, interpret, and prepare a variety of fiscal, statistical, and administrative reports.
- Coordinate final readings on sale of property with realtor, owner, title company, and utility maintenance and operations staff.
- Maintain a thorough knowledge of City ordinances, policies, and procedures.
- Exercise good judgement, flexibility, creativity, and sensitivity in response to changing situations and needs.
This position must learn and become highly functional in several software systems/modules including but not limited to the AS400 modules of GMBA, Asset Management, Land Management, Customer Information System, Utilities, and Cash Receipts; TRAKiT, RamsPro, WasteWorks, Tax Wise, CityWorks, Virtual Cashier, CardKnox, CentralSquare Support, QRep, Cognos, Typo3, FISGlobal, SeamlessDocs, US Bank ACH System, US Bank SinglePoint Electronic Deposit system, Action Print Share File, EagleWeb Clerk & Recorder Document system, Word, Excel, Outlook and more.
Physical Demands:
The position requires the ability to perform sedentary physical work with the ability to lift and carry up to 10 pounds regularly and on occasion up to 50 pounds. The position must have the ability to perform body movements applicable to records management and an office environment.
Safety
Performs all functions in the safest possible manner and according to policies and procedures. Participates fully with safety trainings. Reports unsafe work conditions and practices, work-related injuries, illnesses, and near-misses as soon as possible to assigned supervisor.
Minimum Qualifications (Education, Experience and Training):
This position prefers a certificate of completion or graduation from a two-year business, vocational, trade school or college curriculum with emphasis in accounting and seven to ten years of experience in a computerized office environment, including accounting records, reconciliation, and analysis; proficiency in Microsoft Word and Excel; interoffice and public communications; and frequent interpersonal contact in the performance of duties. Other relevant combinations of education and work experience may be evaluated on an individual basis.
License or Certificate:
Must possess a valid driver’s license with acceptable driving record at the time of hire and have the ability to obtain a valid MT driver’s license within six months of hire.
Supervision Received:
Receives direct supervision from Utility Customer Services Supervisor and/or Finance Director.
