The City of Billings has identified two qualified firms to review the utility billing system and plans to choose one soon.
The selected company will evaluate the entire process, from meters to bill delivery.
The following is a list of audit goals:
1. Verify meter accuracy and remote read delivery.
2. Determine if the measurement of water consumption was converted appropriately and billed accurately in accordance with data stored in Neptune 360.
3. Determine if the last meter reading in the legacy system was imported correctly into VertexOne.
4. Determine if customers were billed according to approved rate schedules.
5. Determine if prorations between fiscal years and tiers was calculated accurately.
6. Determine if the billing data from VertexOne was correctly reflected on the bill image.
7. Determine if wastewater charges were calculated correctly.
8. Determine if storm and garbage fees were billed correctly based on the abnormal billing periods. Verify proration if applicable.
9. Verify that billing cycles and periods were maintained correctly (i.e., no double billing for same or overlapping periods)
10. Verify that automatic payments for customers on autopay match what was billed (i.e., no extra debits have been taken)
The chosen firm will add other processes that they think are appropriate to verify the accuracy of the system.
Council Members Jennifer Owen and Tom Rupsis are the verification process council representatives.
If you have questions about your bill, please contact our City of Billings Public Works staff via Facebook, or by emailing utilities@BillingsMT.gov.