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Council forms audit committee after learning of $1.65M in aged utility receivables
Summary
Council President Dan Rospert announced about $1.65 million in utility accounts receivable and formed an audit committee (Rospert, Stugmyer, May). Staff said $1.5M relates to inactive accounts; roughly $100,000 is active customers 120+ days past due.
Council President Dan Rospert told members the administration had identified approximately $1,650,000 in accounts receivable on utility bills and announced an audit committee of three council members—Tom Stugmyer, Angela May and Rospert—to dig into the details.
Assistant Public Service Director Mike Testa explained roughly $1.5 million of the total stems from inactive accounts (companies sold, bankruptcies, or people who moved away or passed), while about $100,000 represents active customers more than 120 days past due. Testa said collection challenges include outdated contact information for older debts and that much small-balance debt is not cost-effective for outside collection firms; the City has used skip-tracing and plans to engage collection firms for active balances. Service Director Matt Hiscock sought to correct community rumors, stating, "We are not operating at a deficit," and promised additional aging reports and a more aggressive collection approach.
Rospert said the matter had come to light after a Friday audit meeting and that Council expects the audit committee to report back with more refined reports and recommended next steps. Members asked for breakdowns by residential/commercial accounts, aging reports, and details on payment plans.
