City of Columbia sets blueprint for utility bill late fee return City of Columbia sets blueprint for utility bill late fee return COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) The City of Columbia will reinstate fees beginning Aug. 1 for late utility bill payments. The state of emergency city manager John Glascock declared in April, 2020, put the late fees on hold due to the pandemic. The City made the decision to reassess late charges after the City lifted its state of emergency May, 29. "With the state of emergency being lifted at the end of May, and with a lot of things coming back to normal, we thought this was the right time to, to bring that back," said Matt Nestor, the City of Columbia Utilities spokesperson.