10/02/2025
CITY ANNOUNCES CHANGES TO UTILITY BILLING, LANDFILL DISPOSAL COUPON SYSTEM
RAPID CITY, SD—Effective this month, the City of Rapid City is updating its utility billing process and free landfill disposal program in order to reduce costs, improve efficiency, and provide better service to residents.
For many years, utility bills were printed on specialized paper that allowed customers to retain a portion of the bill that could be used for free landfill disposal. While the system reduced fraud, it also required the City to maintain expensive printers, purchase specialized paper, and rely on outdated processes that are no longer supported by industry vendors. Continuing this format would increase costs by as much as $50,000 annually.
Beginning with bills in October, utility bills will arrive on plain paper in standard envelopes. To ensure residents continue to enjoy their free landfill disposal benefit, the City is introducing a new coupon system. Each account holder can request a coupon sheet, with coupons for the same number of landfill trips they currently receive using their monthly bills.
“Modernizing our billing system allows us to save taxpayer dollars, provide improved service, and open the door to new options like e-billing,” said Shannon Truax, Public Works Administration Operations Manager.
Instead of presenting a bill at the landfill, customers will hand over a coupon to the scale house operator. City Public Works officials say the change reduces confusion, eliminates the need to bring the correct portion of a bill, and gives the City better data to track program usage and costs. The new coupon design also reduces the potential for fraud.
The weblink for requesting coupons online is now available at https://forms.rcgov.org/coupons
Key Benefits of the New System
• Saves the City significant printing and postage costs.
• Preserves the free landfill disposal benefit for residents.
• Reduces customer frustration with misplaced or incorrect bill pages.
• Provides better data to track usage and operational costs.
• Allows the City to move toward modern conveniences such as e-billing.
“The only change to the program is how you will access it. Everything else is staying the same. We expect some overlap between the old process and the new one. We are committed to making the transition happen as smoothly as possible. Through the end of the year, customers can continue to use their old bills to access the free disposal service or request a limited number of coupons to get them through to the end of the year.” Truax said.
Truax says beginning in January 2026, only coupons will be accepted for disposal services. For questions about the new billing format or to request landfill coupons, residents can contact the Public Works Support Services by phone at (605) 791-5577 or by email at [email protected]
(Sample of the new landfill disposal coupon)
