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Customer‑care review finds hundreds of thousands in commercial utility balances; council orders outside fiscal review
Summary
Customer Care Manager Tasha Lard told council staff found 142 commercial accounts flagged as shut off but still receiving service, with combined balances of roughly $528,000; the discovery helped drive council’s vote to hire outside consultants to verify reconciliations and pooled cash accounting.
Customer Care Manager Tasha Lard told the East Point City Council on June 1 that an internal review identified 142 commercial account records where meters were flagged as shut off in the billing system but service appeared to be continuing. Staff presented a preliminary aggregate of roughly $528,000 in active and final shut‑off balances. Camp Creek locations and several hotel and institutional accounts were among the largest flagged balances.
Lard said the discrepancy surfaced after a commercial account holder reported being billed yet continuing to receive service. Staff ran reports in the billing system and verified multiple addresses: "It had come to my attention by a commercial owner that he had a utility bill that had been shut off but he was still receiving services," Lard said. City crews made site visits to confirm whether meters were active.
Director of Power Operations Shawn Dao and customer‑care staff described the operational challenge of commercial disconnects: unlike residential service, commercial disconnections often require field crews to physically tag or remove service at transformers or poles, so the process involves coordination with operations and is slower. Dao said staff have created a revised Standard Operating Procedure for commercial disconnects and are working with finance to reconcile account histories before pursuing collections.
The council’s emergency procurement motion will bring external accounting assistance to reconcile billing, pooled cash, and utility fund entries; council members specifically requested the consultant evaluate whether any transfers or one‑time settlements have masked underlying recurring deficits. City staff said collection tools available under existing ordinances include utility liens and tax‑related remedies; finance is preparing procedures to use them where legally appropriate.
What happens next: staff will complete site verification and finalize a list of affected accounts, provide a plan for collections and liens where appropriate, and supply the consultant with reconciliations and records. The council also asked for public reports of the consultant’s findings and a timetable for corrective accounting and operational changes.
Why it matters: the preliminary numbers are material to enterprise fund health and to the FY27 budget debate. Council members said consistent enforcement and accurate records are necessary before adopting a budget that relies on reserves or year‑end transfers.
