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Residents told to check bills as staff explains double‑read appearance during AMI rollout
Summary
Utility billing staff explained that occasional double meter reads can make monthly usage appear 'compounded'; the city is installing AMI meters (about 20,000 so far) and staff said they can run reports to identify impacted accounts and correct bills.
Board members raised resident complaints about apparent double billing and penalty charges after missed reads. Linda Short, Director of Finance (utility billing), and utility staff explained the mechanics: if two reads fall into a single monthly billing window — for instance a read on the 1st and another on the 30th — the bill’s chart can show a doubled bar that looks like two months of usage even though billing logic charges only for actual consumption; the result can place a customer in a higher usage tier.
"If 2 reads happen in a month, 1 on the 1st of the month and 1 on the 30th, it might look like it's compounding, but it's not compounding," Linda Short said. Staff said the meter‑reading contractor can be inconsistent at times and that AMI digital meters (about 20,000 installed to date) are reducing human‑read errors. Staff added they can pull reports (e.g., billing cycles greater than 45 days) to identify impacted accounts and perform batch adjustments rather than waiting for each customer to call.
