Located in South Lake Tahoe, California, the South Tahoe Public Utility District was established on September 28, 1950 and supplies drinking water and provides sewage collection, treatment and export to protect the area’s ecosystem. The District provides its services to approximately 25,000 year-round residents and 17,000 utility billing accounts; the population served in the summer swells to nearly 60,000 as many tourists flock to South Lake Tahoe to enjoy the area’s natural beauty and numerous recreation activities.

Several unique billing situations exist for the District; due to the heavy snowfall received in the winter, accounts are billed quarterly. Additionally, not all accounts are metered; multi-family and commercial properties are billed by metered rates while all other properties are billed a flat rate according to the size of the dwelling. The weather also shortens the building season to mid-May through mid-October; these five months are extremely busy for the District as the staff is responsible for reviewing building plans.

In 2001, the District began researching potential utility billing software vendors after receiving news that support for their current system was being discontinued. Strong customer support and the ability to handle their unique billing situations were two critical factors in the search. Officially selected as the District’s utility billing vendor on August 5, 2002, Springbrook offered the District many features and capabilities not available in their previous system.

Customer Service Supervisor Sandy Gray highlights the cash receipt drawer, the ability to have multiple windows open at the same time, and the ability to post payments before prior month-end close as significant improvements from their previous application. The most beneficial aspect of the Springbrook system, in Ms. Gray’s opinion, is the billing process; instead of the calculation taking six hours, in the Springbrook system it takes only ten minutes.

In addition to the software’s functionality, the support provided by Springbrook is stellar. A fifteen or twenty-minute response time to calls is common and the follow through provided by the Springbrook staff is excellent according to Ms. Gray. The company’s dedication to support is also evident at its annual National User Group Conference. Regular attendees at the conference, Ms. Gray and Ms. Swain appreciate the fun, informative nature of the event and say they have gained valuable insight from other users and enjoy the opportunity to speak with Springbrook personnel from the support, training, programming and management departments. Information Systems Manager Carol Swain echoes Springbrook’s commitment to customer support by stating, “The Springbrook management and programmers are all approachable and truly care about making improvements to the software.”

Additional information about South Tahoe Public Utility District may be found at: www.stpud.us.

Contact: Kimberly Roskelley
Marketing Analyst
866-256-7661