In August of this year, the City of Kennedale entered into an agreement to end the utility billing services FATHOM has been providing to Kennedale customers since 2012. The purpose of this separation agreement was to accommodate the transition of those services from FATHOM to the City of Arlington, pursuant to continuing efforts to provide improved customer service. The transition of customer billing to the City of Arlington is progressing and is anticipated to be complete by December 31, 2019.
However, on Saturday, November 9, 2019, the City received email notification from FATHOM that they will be going out of business. The email stated, “Despite a massive effort this year, we [FATHOM] have not been able to secure an investment or additional debt to save our business”.
On Tuesday morning, FATHOM hosted a webinar with their client Cities across the nation, at which time we were notified that FATHOM will discontinue all contracted services as early as November 30, 2019. The City of Kennedale, along with many other client Cities, was astounded by this announcement and frustrated that FATHOM representatives did not forewarn clients of this possibility.
City leadership is committed to transparency and responsiveness to our citizenry. We are sharing this information with our customers as quickly as possible, and will continue to provide updates on the City’s website as new information becomes available. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work to mitigate any inconveniences that this event might create for City of Kennedale utility customers.
Our objective is to expedite the planned transition of our utility billing to the City of Arlington, in ongoing efforts to enhance customer service levels.
Regarding account payments, customers are to continue making regularly scheduled payments on their utility accounts. Revenues from bill payments will continue to be received by the City of Kennedale, whether billed by Fathom or another provider. As long as payments are received by the indicated due date on each invoice, you will see no interruption to utility service during this transition. At some point in the near future you will, however, see a new billing format and a different payment address, as FATHOM will no longer be billing nor processing payments for City of Kennedale utility customers. Again, simply continue paying your utility bills by the due date indicated on each invoice.
Further information will be provided as it becomes available.