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Controller outlines accounts-receivable reforms and ongoing Spectrum/Charter billing reconciliation
Summary
City Controller Bill Christiansen told the committee the city is enforcing a 90-day referral policy for overdue receivables and moving to a new Workday financial system; DPW said a multi-year Spectrum/Charter conduit-billing discrepancy will be reconciled this year.
Bill Christiansen, Milwaukee’s city controller, told the Judiciary & Legislation Committee on Feb. 23 that the controller’s office has implemented an accounts-receivable policy that pushes departments to take defined steps within 90 days to collect unpaid invoices and to refer older amounts to Cohen Law Firm for collection.
"We do this report for you," Christiansen said, describing monthly follow-ups and a triage system for receivables 0–30, 31–90 and over 90 days old. He said invoices over 90 days should be referred to outside collections unless there is a documented reason to write them off and that writing off amounts over $5,000 requires council approval.
Christiansen said long-past-due receivables are often low-dollar but numerous, and that the city’s current financial system lacks batch write-off capability. "We are moving to a new financial management software and that’ll happen this year," he said, noting Workday will enable batch processing that should reduce manual effort.
Gerald Kruske, commissioner of public works, briefed the committee on a long-running conduit-leasing dispute with Charter/Spectrum. Kruske said the 2000 conduit occupancy lease specified linear footage for billing; DPW audits in 2019 led to a retroactive adjustment that inflated the billed amount. Kruske said DPW and the company are now doing line-by-line permit and visual inspections to reconcile what is actually in each conduit and that Charter/Spectrum "are good partners" and have indicated willingness to pay what is verified.
Committee members asked whether body-worn video or other records should be routinely added to claims files; Christiansen and DPW said procedures can be adjusted and that the controller’s office will share departmental tracking of collection responses if the committee wishes. The controller also noted a reserve policy that sets aside 10% of receivables over one year and 100% of those over two years for budgeting clarity.
The committee did not take a final vote on new budget or contract actions in this session but directed staff to continue follow-up, to provide tracking sheets of departmental responses, and to return with updates as the Workday implementation moves forward.
