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Audit finds opportunities in Independence utility billing; recommends automated meters, clearer customer communications
Summary
A city audit and related 2018 and 2024 reviews found technical and process issues in water, sewer and electric billing. The audit recommends automated meter infrastructure, clearer customer communications, strengthened internal controls and formalized dispute and write-off procedures.
City auditors and staff reviewed Independence’s utility billing operations and told the Audit and Finance Committee the system is broadly functioning but has multiple technical and process improvements to reduce errors, improve customer clarity and limit staff dependency on a few experienced employees.
The auditor recapped prior reviews — a 2018 Reuben Brown process review and a 2024 business process review — and said many of their findings remain relevant. The combined findings cited manual meter reads for water and electric, write-off and collections inconsistencies, default data restrictions in the billing software, unclear transaction codes, and limited segregation of duties.
The audit team recommended the city accelerate implementation of automated meter infrastructure (AMI). Staff and committee…
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