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Resident presses Siloam Springs board over inconsistent billing fees
Summary
At the March 17 board meeting, a resident presented handouts alleging inconsistent city billing statements and questioned who approved new fees; the board did not take immediate action but staff said a vendor has 30 days to respond and the city may revert to the old billing software.
A Siloam Springs resident raised concerns about the city’s utility billing at the March 17 Board of Directors meeting, saying printed statements and other bill pages showed different amounts and asking why the board had not approved the current fee structure.
Kenmore of 207 Western Hills Drive presented handouts to the board and said the documents showed conflicting totals. “That seems kind of strange. You showing one thing to people on one page and then on another page you’re showing them a totally different amount,” he said, and added that cumulative fees appeared to be much higher than citizens expected.
Board members acknowledged receipt of the citizen’s materials but did not take immediate action during the public comment period. Later in the meeting staff reported the vendor working on the city’s billing system had been given 30 days to respond to outstanding issues and that “the city plans to revert to the old software” if remediation is required; the record indicates any recovery of funds or damage claims would follow a separate legal process.
Mayor and directors said they were forwarding citizen inquiries to staff for response and noted the administration would provide shared updates so all residents would receive the same information. The board did not vote or direct immediate policy changes at the meeting.
