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Glitch causes trash collection billing problem in Lansing

The city of Lansing is fixing a billing problem that led to some customers getting non-payment notices for trash collection.
City of Lansing
The city of Lansing is fixing a billing problem that led to some customers getting non-payment notices for trash collection.

The city of Lansing is working to fix a billing problem affecting some Capital Area Recycling and Trash (CART) customers.

Lansing public service director Andy Kilpatrick says the payment glitch cropped up for a single day in December. That left the bills of an unknown number of autopay customers unpaid. This later resulted in those customers getting unpaid bill notifications, including late fees.

Kilpatrick says those customers had older account numbers starting with a zero, and the zero was dropped when transferred to a third-party processor.

“Because they got a late notice, there’s a late fee associated with that,” he explained. “But if they were affected by this glitch we will take care of that and that will be taken off their account.”

Kilpatrick says the city doesn’t store autopay information, and doesn’t know which customers use autopay. Because of that, affected customers need to contact the city, or CART, so their accounts can be updated.

Trash collection was not affected by the error.

People with autopay can contact CART at 517-483-4400 or send an email to: OMAdmin@lansingmi.gov.

Scott Pohl is a general assignment news reporter and produces news features and interviews. He is also an alternate local host on NPR's "Morning Edition."
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