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Brigham City council approves mid‑year budget amendment to fund journeyman meterman
Summary
The council approved a FY2025–26 budget amendment that funds a journeyman meterman for the city’s electric department, estimated at about $135,000 pro‑rated for the year plus a vehicle; staff said prior testing found wiring errors that under‑captured customers’ usage and expect the position to be self‑funding.
Brigham City’s council approved a mid‑year amendment to the FY2025–26 budget on Nov. 20 to add a journeyman meterman position in the electric department and cover an associated vehicle. Council member Hitt moved to approve the amendment; the motion passed after a roll call.
City staff and Superintendent Casey Smith told the council the city’s metering network needs specialized attention as current CT (current transformer) meters age and sometimes become saturated, which can prevent meters from capturing the full electrical load. In a presentation, staff said a journeyman meterman would perform maintenance, testing, repairs and installations — particularly for commercial CT meters — freeing substation personnel to focus on substation maintenance.
The city estimated the pro‑rated personnel cost for the remainder of the fiscal year at about $135,000 and identified a vehicle purchase that may cost in the low $40,000 range. Staff said they expect the new position to pay for itself over time by correcting meter wiring and capture errors that currently reduce billed revenue. Council members asked about urgency and why the hire is mid‑year; staff said the position was requested through the budget process, additional testing and justification were completed afterward, and city leadership now recommends proceeding.
In testimony, officials described preliminary testing by an outside meterman that checked four locations and reportedly found wiring errors at three locations, with those meters capturing roughly two‑thirds of actual usage. Staff said the meterman role is distinct from meter reading and includes technical testing and CT installations and will include scheduled checks to establish baselines and detect changes.
The amendment passed by council motion and roll call; specific vote tallies were not recorded in the meeting transcript excerpt. The city will post the position and hire per standard personnel procedures and said staff would monitor results and report back on revenue recapture and operational changes.
