FAQs

In order to start utility service, you will need to come to the Utility Billing office located at City Hall at 400 Ella Street.  To save some time, you may submit the Request For Utility Service form online.  Once your application is ready, a customer representative will contact you to come in and complete the process.

Utility deposits for all residential rental properties, including apartments, condominiums, etc., shall be $150.00 per service location.  Commercial deposits are required for all commercial properties and businesses.  Commercial deposits are calculated by taking the average monthly utility bill for the past 12 months x 2.  For more information, please see our Utility Deposit Policy.

All residential deposits will remain with the Board of Public Works until the customer moves to another service location.  Any owner-occupied residential customer that was required to make a deposit may request said deposit be returned after 24 consecutive months of good credit.  Commercial customers will have their deposit returned to them once they have had 24 consecutive months of good credit.  Said deposit will be refunded to them in the form of a credit on their Board of Public Works utility bill.

Any owner-occupied residential customer may request that their deposit be returned after 24 consecutive months of Good Credit.  The term “Good Credit” shall mean that a customer has not been disconnected for non-payment, has not provided the City of Beatrice or the Beatrice Board of Public Works with a returned check, or has not incurred more than 1 late charge on their BPW utility bill in the past 12 months. Upon the request of a customer to have their deposit returned, their deposit shall be returned to them in the form of applying said deposit to their Board of Public Works utility bill within 30 business days. 

Yes. If your utility service was disconnected and it is after our normal business hours, you will be able to drop a payment off at the Beatrice Police Department, 201 North 5th Street.  If you are unsure how much you owe, please call the non-emergency phone number, 402-228-4080, and they will  provide you with the total amount due.  You will then need to bring down a cash payment in the exact amount.  Once your payment has been received, a serviceman will be dispatched to reconnect your service. 

You may request to be returned to a regular paying status after 24 months of no delinquent payments.

We print all of our bills in our office and take them to the local Post Office.  If you have not signed up to be a paperless bill customer, please contact our office and we can look up your account for you.  You can also log on to XpressBillPay and view your bill online.

The Beatrice Plus program is a contribution program where Board of Public Works customers’ bills are rounded up to the nearest dollar.  The average customer contribution is approximately $6.00 per year.  The additional contribution goes to the Beatrice Plus program, which provides funds for community betterment projects.  Recent projects that were funded by Beatrice Plus include:

• Two (2) Nevco Baseball/Softball LED Scoreboards at Hannibal Park
• Decorative Holiday Lighting at the Carnegie Building
• Two (2) Playworld Energi Stations along the Hike/Bike Trails
• Improvements to Veterans Memorial Park, West Scott Ball Fields, and Prairie Playground 
• Indoor Batting Facility at Hannibal Park
• Sertoma Splash Pad at Astro Park
• StoryWalk at Trailhead Park (across from Gage County Museum)

The water infrastructure fee was implemented in 2013 to help offset the water main replacement projects due to the aging infrastructure.

The sewer infrastructure fee was implemented in 2015 to help offset the upcoming Plant improvements estimated to be $10 million dollars. 

No. The Board of Public Works no longer calls our customers to notify them of a delinquent bill.  Instead delinquent notices are mailed out stating when the disconnect date is scheduled.  If you receive a call from someone regarding your utility bill, please do not give out your financial information or account information.  Please call the Police Department's non-emergency telephone number 402-228-4080 to report it.