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Commission begins exploring billing upgrades and alternative rate designs
Summary
Commissioners discussed options to improve customer billing (monthly statements, consumption history, graphical bills) and floated an alternative tiered per‑bedroom flat structure; staff said data integration and town billing protocols are constraints, and a stakeholder communications volunteer offered to help map options.
A commissioner reintroduced a proposal to improve sewer billing and customer communications, asking the commission to consider monthly billing, historical graphs and a more user-friendly statement to help customers track usage and encourage conservation.
Peter said modernized monthly statements and usage graphs could reduce customer calls and encourage conservation. Staff explained the constraint: the billing data comes from the regional water provider and the town’s billing practice controls how statements are presented. Tom and other staff described two paths: (1) partner with the water provider as it upgrades its billing system to get monthly history, or (2) import Weir River data into a different billing package (for example, the light company’s billing system) to produce a separate sewer statement — the latter would require a data integration effort and have an associated cost.
Tom also described a conceptual alternative rate design — a tiered flat per-bedroom structure (no usage-based volumetric charge) — as an idea to explore. Liz, who works on stakeholder engagement, offered to whiteboard stakeholder and communications parameters and produce best-practice options for the commission to review. Commissioners agreed to pursue more information and bring a formal recommendation back at a future meeting; no formal direction or vote was taken.
