What: water meter reading, billing, bill disputes and payment terms.
Where it stands: On November 3 staff reported improvements and Council pulled the item to extend payment terms to 60 days; a follow-up work session is planned in about 90 days.
Next: A water billing and customer service update in about 90 days (around February).
Details
Staff reported full-time use of the mobile meter collector, a standard work order feeding billing, a fully staffed meter shop, and a dispute code that keeps disputed accounts off the disconnect list.
Figures given: 195 leak-check orders from September 1 to October 23 (about 72 percent found no leak, about 4 percent city-side, about 25 percent customer-side); 12 meter tests in October with 90 percent of tested meters accurate; 29 official disputes; 43 leak adjustment applications in October.
Staff recommended staying at 30-day payment terms because of software limits and revenue loss; council members praised the progress and asked for a 90-day report.