Audit finds antiquated water billing systems and recommends $1.8M upgrade; council hears plan to stagger replacement

The City Auditor presented findings from a September audit of the Water Customer Service Division, concluding the division lacked formal standard operating procedures for key functions (leak adjustments, disconnection notices), suffered vacancies in the meter shop and relied on decades-old software.

The auditor told council the water customer service component of the financial software is roughly 20 years old and the city’s broader financial system dates to about 1994. Replacing the entire financial system would cost approximately $1.8 million for implementation, while replacing only the water customer service software would cost about $800,000, the auditor said. The audit also found inconsistent use of the existing software (sticky-paper notes instead of electronic account notes) that has led to errors and, in some cases, improper disconnections.

Staff described short-term fixes already underway, including moving meter shop field staff under water utilities to prioritize meter repairs, and recommended development and adoption of formal SOPs, body-camera policies for field crews, cross-training and better documentation practices. Jamie (IT/implementation) estimated a minimum of 18 months to implement a new water customer service/billing module and up to three years for a full enterprise replacement, with staged payments across implementation milestones.

Council members pressed staff on accountability for past improper disconnections and asked for specific proposals to require two-person verification before disconnecting service; the city said legal and procedural details will be addressed in forthcoming SOPs and that increased budget requests for FY27 will include priority funding for the software replacement. The council directed staff to return with a timeline and budget options for staged implementation.