Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Utilities And Utilities Billing topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Burlington creates meter-to-cash team to prevent billing errors, approves two positions
Summary
The Board of Finance unanimously approved a personnel reorganization to create a meter-to-cash team in Water Resources, repurposing one position and adding one new position to address past billing errors and support an incremental smart-meter rollout.
The Burlington City Board of Finance on Feb. 18 approved a personnel reorganization to create a dedicated "meter-to-cash" team in the Water Resources division. The change repurposes one existing position and adds one additional position; the reorganization was budgeted and discussed during the 2025 budget presentation, officials said.
Presenters said the team will centralize billing, meter replacement and data integrity work after a series of billing errors beginning in 2017 required forensic reconciliation with key customers. Megan (presented as the department lead) described recurring strains on existing staff and the need for a lower-level position to provide sustainable capacity and support senior staff overseeing borrowing and portfolio work.
Megan and Tony Barrett from Human Resources said the added capacity is intended to reduce the risk of large future billing errors, improve accuracy when meters are replaced, and position the city to roll out smart metering incrementally. City staff described an existing smart-meter pilot using a receiver on the top of the UVM tank, and said the plan is to place additional receivers in future years and replace aging meters with smart-meter-ready units when a meter is due for replacement.
Councilor Carpenter moved the recommended actions; Councilor Kane seconded. The board voted "aye" and the motion carried unanimously.
Staff said they do not anticipate additional hires beyond the two positions approved for this reorganization but expect the rollout of smart metering to be incremental and to require changes to systems and processes over time.
