Customer Service / Water Billing

Accounts must be brought up to date

The City of Roswell Water Billing Office is currently requiring all past-due accounts to be paid, and/or a payment plan established, in order to avoid services being shut off to the account customer. If you need to bring your account payments up to date, please come by so the staff can work with you to assist you in taking care of your account. 

On Sept. 1, 2022, the city will begin shutting off water to delinquent accounts that have not arranged a payment plan with the city.
 
Customers are responsible for amounts billed as of Jan. 1, 2022, and must maintain proper payment of their accounts moving forward. If your account is delinquent, please make proper payment or arrangements immediately so your water service will not be disconnected. Any account that is disconnected must be paid in full before it will be reconnected. 

Payment can be made by any of multiple options:
• The City of Roswell accepts cash, check, credit/debit cards (in person or online) or money order. 
• Phone payments are accepted (575-624-6711).
• Online payment can be made at roswellnmcitizens.munisselfservice.com. 
• Payments can be mailed to or dropped off at the Utility Billing Office (415 N. Richardson Ave.) or placed in the payment drop box on North Richardson Avenue across from the Utility Billing Office.

Any account holder who is unable to pay an outstanding balance may come by the Utility Billing Office to request a payment plan. This must be done in person. The length of the payment plan will be based on the total amount owed. To be eligible for the Extended Payment Program, the account holder must: 
1. Be delinquent in payment for water services and have received a past-due notice, and 
2. Have a satisfactory payment history with the utility. A satisfactory payment history means the customer has never failed to comply with all terms of any prior Extended Payment Agreement with the Utility and during the previous 18 months the customer has not had more than two of the following: issuance of a non-sufficient funds (NSF) check to the Utility or a similar returned credit item; the posting of a turn-off tag by the Utility on the service; or termination of the service, and 
3. Have an account classified as a metered single-family residence; multi-family residence with individually metered units, or commercial account.

Any disconnected account that remains with an outstanding balance is subject to the placement of a property lien and/or collection action being pursued in Magistrate Court.

If you have questions, please call the Water Billing Office at 575-624-6711. 

ATTENTION: ONLINE WATER BILL-PAY CUSTOMERS

The City of Roswell's water customer online self-pay and recurring payment system has changed. The previous system is no longer available. It has been replaced by a new system designed to be easier for customers to use. 

To access the new system, you may continue using the same bill pay links on the City website or visit click here. All customers will need to set up a new account on the new system. For more information or assistance, please call the Utility Billing Office at (575) 624-6711. FB-4WaystoPay - revised hours

Responsibilities

The Utilities Billing Department consists of 6 employees all working together to provide the citizens of Roswell with water services.

Our major task is to accurately gather the necessary information to keep the water flowing to some 18,000 households and to prepare our customers' monthly water usage bills.

This process is accomplished by physically reading water meters, analyzing the data and submitting these results for billing purposes.

The department also acts as the payment collect point for the city's water bills and to assist customers on a variety of issues concerning the city's water system.


Meters

Anyone experiencing any problems related to a meter should call Central Control at (575) 347- 5421. If there is a leak around the new water meter, please do not call a plumber. Make sure to contact Central Control.

Anyone with questions or concerns about a water bill is encouraged to call (575) 624-6711 or send an email.


Annual rate adjustment

The City of Roswell may put into effect an annual water and sewer rate adjustment as established by city ordinance. This adjustment is based on the Consumer Price Index associated with utility costs. The actual increase translates to different dollar amounts for different customers depending on the customer's meter size and water usage.

The adjustment, established in a 2013 city ordinance, adjusts the water and sewer rates to ensure the city has sufficient revenue to take care of system maintenance. Although the sanitation fee is also on the water/sewer bill, this adjustment impacts only water and sewer rates.


Property owner/tenant financial responsibility

When property owners, landlords and property managers rent or lease a property to a new tenant, they are required to fill out a Notice of Financial Responsibility if the renter is to be responsible for payment of city utility bills at the rented property. 

This notice is required by state law (NMSA 1978 3-23-6(C)) for situations in which the renter/leaser is to be financially responsible for utility bills. If this is not on file with the city’s Utility Billing Office for EACH NEW TENANT, the property owner is financially responsible for utility bills if the renter/leaser does not pay the bill. To place the financial responsibility on a tenant, state law requires the property owner to notify the municipality “that utility charges that may be incurred by a renter will not be the responsibility of the owner. Such notification shall be given in writing prior to the initiation of the debt and shall include the location of the rental property.”

The City of Roswell form for property owners to provide this notification to the city can be obtained at the Utility Billing Office (415 N. Richardson Ave.) or found online here. This form must be completed and filed with the Utility Billing Office at the time a tenant’s utility account is established.

Discontinued utility service will not be re-established until any outstanding bill is paid in full. A lien can be filed against the property in the case of a delinquent bill. The city is in the process of trying to collect outstanding utility-bill debts to ensure all customers are fairly sharing the financial responsibility of this service that includes water, sewer and sanitation. The city will also be proceeding with filing liens in appropriate instances as part of this process. 

Forms

  1. Residential Water Service Application
  2. Residential Water Service Application - Spanish Version
  3. Commercial Water Service Application
  4. Water Services Termination