Utility Audit Tabled Until Meters Can Be Evaluated

By Tammy Gray-Searles
   A plan to audit the city’s utility system was tabled Tuesday evening by the Holbrook City Council amidst concerns that the work proposed in the audit would not produce any information that city officials did not already have.
   “There’s things on the list that we don’t need and things off the list that we do need,” Vice Mayor Cynthia Stuart remarked about a written audit proposal.
   Stuart asked that the work to be included in the audit be changed to include items such as checking meters, comparing water use to the amount billed, and determining whether the city is properly billing for all trash pickup. She noted that items included in the proposal, such as checking procedures used for billing, have already been addressed through the city’s regular financial audit.
   As proposed, the audit would cost the city $7,500 to $10,000. City Manager Carlo Pilgrim told the council that if all the additional items requested were added to the audit, the total cost would be $16,000 to $27,000. Stuart remarked that she would like to see the work that is not needed removed from the proposal and only pay for the work that is needed. Pilgrim replied that in that case, the company would not provide an opinion on the audit because they had not reviewed the billing procedures. Stuart countered that the auditor already indicated in their proposal that they would not issue an opinion because the items listed for the job do not constitute a complete audit.
   “We don’t need the things we already know. Take them out,” she said.
   The council had requested information on completing a utility audit while considering whether utility rates should be raised. At that time, Stuart indicated that she was opposed to rate increases without having complete information about the utility system, such as whether some customers are not being billed and some water meters not included in the billing system.
   Pilgrim told the council that city staff has developed a form that will allow them to check every water meter in the city for accuracy. Over the next two or three months, city staff will check every meter and complete a form for each meter. The forms will then be compared against billing records to make sure billing is accurate.
   “We can inspect them and get the information we need and evaluate it internally,” Pilgrim said.
   Councilman Wade Carlisle noted that he also wanted an evaluation of the city’s collection efforts, noting that with the recent revelation that some customers were not being charged for water usage, he wants to be sure the city is collecting for all water used.
   The council unanimously agreed to table the auditor’s proposal until an internal audit could be completed.
   “I think we should table this until we get back the internal information, then we can figure out what we need from there,” Stuart remarked.