BILLINGS A total of 50 Billings accounts are without water as of Monday after the city cut service for non-payment the past month, marking a return to normal enforcement after nearly two years of suspended penalties.The delay i n late fees and penalties comes on the heels of a billing software change in 2024 that had problems, which contributed to higher bills than normal.Click here to hear the latest: City says 50 Billings ratepayers without water following service shutoffsCity Administrator Chris Kukulski said it's nice to get closer to normal and that the penalties were long overdue."The trend is clearly going down," said Kukulski Monday morning. "This issue happened, what, for 60-90 days in 2024. So we're a full 18, almost 24 months, past that point."Despite an independent auditing company finding that there was no systematic issues with the billing system, many residents remained frustrated. MTN has spoken to dozens since June of 2024."It's a bad feeling to feel like you're getting ripped off, and if you don't even know you're getting ripped off, that's worse," Billings resident Hugh Healow said in November of 2024."How many voices need to scream before they go, okay, maybe there is something wrong here," Billings resident Scott Welter said in February of 2025.The frustration continued for residents like Travis Tooley, who had his service cut in January when the shut-offs from the city began again after nearly 11 months without penalties."I'd rather pay for my own damn water because I don't trust them," Tooley said in January.Kukulski said that there are currently more than 800 customers set up on a payment plan to catch up on overdue bills. He said he wished that the city had started enforcing penalties sooner."We should have started late fees and turn-offs six months ago, eight months ago, and we probably would have fewer people on payment plans today because they wouldn't have gotten into such a hole," Kukulski said.Still, Kukulski said he's appreciative of those working with the city."I really appreciate our customers' patience. I appreciate all those that have been getting those paid," Kukulski said.Water shutoffs will continue every Monday as they did before 2024, returning the city closer to normal operations."Unfortunately, every month it's pretty common to have 25 to 50 getting turned off, most of those people getting in within 24 to 48 hours, getting that bill paid and then getting their water turned on," Kukulski said. ...read more read less