Many residents of Cordell took to Facebook and other forums to express their unhappiness with their recently received electric utility bills. This matter was discussed by the City Council at their meeting Monday night.
The unexpected rise in amounts due stemmed from those accounts using the Average Monthly Payment system. Average Monthly Payment allows a customer to pay a uniform monthly amount that is calculated by averaging their monthly use for the previous twelve months. However, if a household uses less or more than the billed average amount, either a credit or an additional amount due accrues on their account. In prior years, the accounting software used by the city added a 3% cushion to prevent a large underpayment from accruing. Any underpayment or overpayment continued to roll over until an account was closed or transferred to a new address, in which case the total due was adjusted to reflect the difference between actual usage and the average monthly payment.
In 2021 the city implemented a new accounting software system and the new software uses a different method of handling those averaged accounts. With the beginning of the new fiscal year, the software took the amount overpaid, or- in almost all cases, underpaid- and added that to the current monthly average plus a 10% cushion to calculate a new average monthly payment amount. This new calculation resulted in many residents seeing a large increase in their monthly payment.
This has presented a huge problem for those on fixed or limited incomes. City Council Member Sheri Parsons closely questioned Interim City Manager Vicki Hagerman over why no one warned residents that this change was taking place and why software was purchased without being sure that the calculating method was close to the familiar method.
Hagerman was not able to answer questions about the software purchase as she was not employed by the city during that time. She did note that every utility account on the Average Monthly Payment system shows the actual accrued amount clearly on the monthly bill. Hagerman continued to say that some residents had requested meetings with city hall about their amount due and that the city is handling them on a case-by-case basis and may be able to work with them on clearing up the balances.