Mayor pro tem seeks solutions to water bill complaints

Mayor pro tem Damon Fogley said Saturday complaints he has received about "excessively high water bills" prompted him to place an item on Tuesday’s City Council agenda that reads "General discussion regarding water billing practices and billing audit."

"A lot of people are concerned about this," Fogley said. "A lot of people are complaining about their bills. The reason I put this on the agenda is to have a general discussion about billing practices and if there’s any type of trigger mechanism in place when someone does have a spike."

Fogley is hoping to make public exactly how the city staff reacts to customer complaints about high water bills and, particularly whether technicians test water meters for accuracy.

"I think we need some kind of program in place," Fogley said. "I’ve had some residents contact me about excessively high water bills that they’ve had recently. They’‘ve had a huge spike during the summer months. They went from having an average bill of $100 that tripled when June and July came around."

The mayor pro tem said he researched what remedies have been undertaken by other cities and he said he especially liked an ordinance adopted last year in Austin that reads if a customer receives an abnormally high water bill they could be eligible for an adjustment if:

• The customer’s water usage is greater than or equal to three times their normal usage;
• They have at least 12 months of water billing history at the address in question;
• They have not had another billing adjustment or credit within the previous 24 months; and
• They file a form reflecting the high usage within 90 days of receiving the questionable bill.

If they are deemed eligible, the customers will have half of the excess charges credited to their account and the other half adjusted to a lower billing rate.

Fogley noted that Austin conducted an independent audit of its water utility billing system, the results of which were released earlier in 2016, that revealed it operated at 98.86 percent accuracy. The audit was authorized because of customer complaints about excessive bills.

"When I asked (City Manager Scott Sellers) when our last billing audit was, he said it was 2009 and there weren’t too many details about this audit," Fogley said. "I’m not sure they actually looked at the meters we had or whether it was just strictly about billing practices. I want to know what is our allowable percentage of error."

Austin’s audit began by testing the city’s 1,138 water meters for accuracy and the auditors recommended the city test their meter accuracy annually. Austin City Council member Ellen Troxclair, who recommended the above referenced ordinance to remedy customer complaints, pointed out that while a 98.86 accuracy rate might seem good at first glance, the city’s contract requires a rate of 99.9 percent.

"I want to know what our accuracy rate is," Fogley said, "I think we should discuss having a company come out and do an audit on our billing system and all our meters."

Fogley was asked whether a Kyle’s customer complaint automatically triggers an inspection of the meter’s accuracy or, at a minimum,. a check of the meter for possible leaks, an incredibly simple procedure,

"No, I don’t think it does," the mayor pro tem replied, "I think if someone requested it, they would go out there. That’s one of the reasons I put this on the agenda, I think there needs to be a mechanism in place for that."

Other items on the council’s Tuesday agenda include spending more than a half-million dollars — $632,405, to be exact — on five big-ticket items. Specifically, the agenda includes:

• The first reading of an amended ordinance regarding the use hand-held wireless devices while operating a motor vehicle or bicycle. The city had in place an ordinance prohibiting texting and/or calling on such devices, but earlier this year the Texas Legislature passed and the governor signed a bill that banned texting while driving statewide, Kyle’s amended ordinance would add using these devices to "engage in a call" to the activities the state prohibits.
• Spending 59 percent of that aforementioned $632,405 ($334,579) on "incode software modules, data conversion services, installation services, and hosting services for the city's Finance, Utility Billing, Human Resources, and Municipal Court" that "allows for the City of Kyle and Tyler Technologies to begin moving forward with plans to begin development of the various products." There are probably computer/technical geeks out there who can explain what that language means, but, frankly, this type of gobbledegook is beyond my comprehension. I must say I’m especially interested, however, in that line about spending this amount of money to pave the way "to begin development of the various products." What products? For whom? Will this development require the spending of additional money, i.e., is the city spending $334,579 to make it easier to spend more money later on? Hopefully, answers the public can comprehend will be provided during the council session. It is worth noting that the Tyler Technologies referenced in this material is a company that calls itself "the largest software company in the nation solely focused on providing integrated software and technology services to the public sector — cities, counties, states and school districts." So there’s that.
• Spending $168,000 to purchase and install a 300 kilowatt diesel generator that will provide emergency backup electric power to the Public Works building. This is also from this year’s budget — $45,000 from the General Fund, $45,000 from the Water Utility Fund, $45,000 from the Wastewater Utility Fund and $33,000 from the Stormwater Utility Fund.
• $40,089 for one of these and another $19,637 for two of these, both for the Stormwater Utility Department.
• Spending $30,100 to purchase one of these things. According to Park Department officials, "One of the goals of the Downtown Beautification Plan (EDITOR’S NOTE: I believe the city is referring here to the "Downtown Beautification Plan," although the agenda material calls it the "Downtown Beautifaction Plan") is to keep the streets and sidewalk throughout the downtown swept and clean. The Public Work’s street sweeper does a great job of sweeping the thoroughfare. But the two-man crew of the grounds division of the Parks Department spend hundreds of hours each year hand picking and hand sweeping the beer cans and bottles, trash, leaves, crickets and various debris and trash. The Smithco Sweep star will allow the same crew of two to sweep the sidewalks, drainage inlets, parking lots and up next to curbs quickly and effectively. The piece of equipment will also allow the parks crews a quick way to clean up parks after major events."
• What appears, on the surface, to be two routine zoning change requests — one that would allow an auto repair shop on Rebel Road and another for a medical facility on Dacy Loop in what is rapidly becoming a medical complex in Northeast Kyle — and two requests for waivers from the Rural Subdivision Standards, one of which would allow for the construction of a wastewater line for the Anthem subdivision.
• City Manager Scott Sellers is expected to formally announce the City Council’s first October meeting will be held Wednesday, Oct. 4., because the regular meeting date, Oct. 3, conflicts with National Night Out.