Finance director presents November financials; staff outlines utility billing errors and refund work
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Summary
Finance staff reported November budget and fund figures and described a utility-billing problem that resulted in approximately 50 accounts being double‑charged; staff said they are issuing refunds and working individually with affected customers while pursuing rate‑study and delinquency remedies.
City finance staff presented November financial reports and described an ongoing utility-billing problem that affected a small share of accounts and prompted refunds and case‑by‑case resolution.
The financial summary matters because it outlines the city’s fiscal position across general, water, sewer and sanitation funds and because the billing problem has prompted direct interaction with hundreds of utility customers.
Jean (finance staff) reported general-fund revenues of about $13.55 million (49% of budget) and noted individual fund balances for sewer, water and sanitation. She said the city is continuing a rate study for water, sewer and sanitation and that some enterprise funds are operating at narrow margins.
Jean described the billing issue: a third-party billing processor and a banking partner caused duplicate automatic withdrawals for a subset of accounts that use checking-account automatic payments. The error affected roughly 0.3–0.35% of accounts — about 50 customers — and staff have issued refunds and are handling cases individually. “On any accounts that we know are affected, they will not be shut off,” Jean said. She also said revenue staff mailed more than 5,000 notice letters in early December and are offering flexible payment arrangements for customers who receive bills with two months of charges.
Council members raised separate but related concerns about delinquent sewer-only accounts: Councilwoman Montiel said about 133 delinquent accounts reflect roughly $365,000 owed to the city and asked staff to pursue remedies beyond shutoff, such as legal pathways or liens. City legal/management said they are exploring available legal options and confirmed some larger delinquencies are already under legal review.
Jean and city managers said they will continue the rate study, pursue collections and work with customers to spread payments for low-income residents while resolving bank/billing reconciliation issues.
Provenance: Financial report and billing discussion (transcript segments: 4744.0103–6036.185 and 6052.15–6496.875).