The newsletter "In the News" section states, "Water usage from Polk City Wells - It has been reported that Polk City wells are not correctly registering the number of gallons pumped correctly. Frank Sanderson, Polk City's Interim Utilities Director, has been on top of this issue since before it was reported. There are several reasons this may be occurring and we are working to resolve the issue. The following action has already been taken:
* The flowmeters at the wells have been recalibrated
* The original design of the placement of the flowmeters is being evaluated.
Individual meters on customer properties are correct."
"Meter readings - Polk City Utilities found an error in the programming of approximately 20 water meters out of approximately 2000 water meters that caused a higher reading than normal. The software has been updated and the meters now read correctly."
Using the data from the public records request that covers billing cycle 6/10/09 through 11/10/10, anyone can clearly see that those excuses don't even start to explain the discrepancies. Please keep in mind that this data and graph reflects the GALLONS billed and pumped, not the price per gallon charged. The only semi-consistent trend is the total gallons pumped figures. Referring to the chart below, you can see that the gallons pumped decreased slightly following the first recent rate increase in Resolution 2009-07 with an effective date of October 24th, 2009, then again the gallons pumped dropped slightly again following the most recent rate increase in Resolution 2010 - 01 with an effective date of July 9th, 2010.
On the other hand, the gallons of water billed seems to have absolutely no logical correlation to the gallons pumped out of the ground. The outrageous spike on the July 10, 2009, billing cycle might have a closer correlation cash flow, or lack of, in the city's bank accounts. There was a mention in the September 2, 2009 Budget Workshop Minutes about an ongoing computer conversion, which may have played a roll, but how many of these bills were actually corrected? At least of our neighbors had a 10,000 gallon overage in their reading that billing cycle and had to fight for at least 6 weeks over their bill and suffered a water shut off, before the issue was finally resolved. This was also the same time the city posted a notice by the window of the utility department that if you come in with an attitude, they can refuse to serve you. How coincidental!
Logic would stand to reason that during the colder months when the snow-birds come back in town from the North, that there would be a noticeable increase in both the gallons pumped and the gallons billed. That doesn't seem to effect the data very much. During the colder months of November, 2009, through February, 2010, gallons billed averages at or below the gallons pumped. Could this also have a correlation to the city's cash flow? This is also the same time frame when the Ad Valorem Taxes start flowing in every year easing up on the city's tight financial situation, so if there is some creative billing going on, that would be the time of year when those extra funds from the utilities are not as vital to the over all cash flow.
Another area of the gallons billed that appears to have a closer correlation to the city's cash flow instead of the gallons billed is the time following the February 2010 billing cycle. This is around the same time when the former City Manager Cory Carrier really took notice to the dire situation of the city's financial state as evident in the February 9, 2010 City Council Meeting Minutes. Per the minutes, Ms. Carrier stated, "money is not coming in as expected. We are still working on the $100,000 that was taken out of this year’s budget, and we are “barely squeaking by.” City Manager Carrier advised she has laid off two employees and is looking at other city operations to see where we can make cuts."
In the March 9, 2010, City Council Meeting Minutes, The city received the petition for contraction from Fantasy of Flight for approximately 300 acres. The next month, the gallons billed increased yet again out of proportion with the gallons pumped, maybe in anticipation of the legal bills.
In the April 6, 2010, City Council Workshop Minutes, the 2008 Financial Audit findings were announced by the Auditor, Mike Brynjulfson. Per the minutes, Mr. Brynjulfson stated, "Statement of Net Assets in the Water and Sewer Funds – the City met a condition of financial emergency (unreserved balance in the General Fund is a negative $101,392 and the Enterprise Funds (w/s) is a negative $173,888)" The following month, the gallons billed took another steep increase, yet again out of proportion with the gallons pumped. Also that month, in the April 20, 2010, City Council Workshop Minutes, under the leadership of the new Mayor, Joe LaCascia, "Mayor LaCascia advised he would be asking for 50% increase in rates in order to get revenue in as quick as possible." This steep gallons billed increase trend takes a steeper increase each month following until the July 10, 2010 billing cycle, where it hits a slight plateau. This dramatic increase occurred despite, the gallons pumped begins to slowly drop after the May 10, 2010 billing cycle after the rate increase was applied to the water usage in the water bills, despite the July 9th effective date.
Another major "Ahh-Hah" moment comes into play when you read this additional quote from the April 20, 2010 City Council Workshop Minutes above. On page 2, bullet point number 10 states, "Mayor LaCascia and Pam Lawson then discussed the revenue/expense projections, which show General Fund will have a deficit in July, Sewer Fund will have a deficit in April, and the Water Fund will not have a deficit. By the report it shows the water fund will carry the other two funds until September (copy is attached)." This is the same month where the gallons billed peaks, when there is no obvious change in the gallons pumped.
Starting after the August 10, 2010, billing cycle, a steep decrease in gallons billed occurred with no major drop in gallons pumped at the wells. August 2010, is when the Polk City Utility customers were fed up and finally starting to get involved due to the awareness our blog had created. At city meetings around this time, on numerous occasions, Vice Mayor, Trudy Block, makes references to seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, being at the cusp of a financial shift in the city which will result in financial relief for the citizens, etc., etc. Could this be because they were manually manipulating the billing numbers because the natives were getting a little too restless for their liking?
How are the actual meter reading numbers entered into the billing system???? How much human interaction is coming into this equation? Are there any checks and balances built into this process to make sure that these numbers are accurate? Is the same person who is handling the cash flow for the city the same person controlling the revenue coming in from the utility bills? Who is rounding the meter readings to the next 1,000 gallon increment when the meter readings appear to be by the gallon in some months, when other months the figures are all rounded? How many customers are unfairly being bumped into a higher rate bracket due to this rounding practice? Inquiring minds want to know!!!!
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