PUB Installment Plan

In larger cities the utility company allows customers to opt-in to a billing "installment" plan. Here's how it works: the company adds the previous year's worth of bills, divides by 12, and then bills the customer a monthly "installment" equal to 1/12th of the previous year's total bill. This helps the customers BUDGET their utility bills which, as we all know, go up and down during the year. At the end of the year, if there is an amount owing, the customer pays the 1/12th plus the balance, or if there is a credit, he can either receive a refund or credit it to the next month's payment.

Example: if my 2006 total utility payments were $3,180, my monthly bill during 2007 would be a "flat" $265 per month. The extra "work" involved at PUB could be easily offset by charging customers a nominal fee, such as $2.00/month for this service which should be enough to hire one person to manage this entire operation.