A continuing Y2K problem.

GICC

-- Anonymous, October 02, 2001

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OR: Water Billing Solution Goes Down the Drain

WA: Some in dark on utilities' new billing system

WA - County may retry software

-- Anonymous, October 02, 2001

Water billing joins top state computer woes

The Portland Water Bureau's flawed computer billing system is likely to cost the city from $17 million to $29 million in over-budget costs and lost collections, city records indicate, putting it among Oregon government's most expensive computer foul-ups.

That estimate does not include the potential cost of replacing the system, which sends water and sewer bills to 180,000 city customers. A city finance office report released last week estimated that replacement, if necessary, would cost from $6 million to $30 million.

. . .

The finance office's status report last week came from the water and sewer bureaus and Chief Administrative Officer Tim Grewe. It says the Water Bureau's cash collections, which dove after the bureau switched on Severn Trent's system in February 2000, have significantly improved, exceeding financial plans by $11 million since last July.

But, as first predicted in December, the system won't be stable until year end, the report says. About 6,500 bills are still stuck, staff levels remain 50 employees above normal, and bills due from customers are still $30 million higher than average. An agreement with Severn Trent to maintain the system, which city officials expected to be signed by now, is tied up in legal wrangling.

A management letter due from the city's outside auditor, KPMG, will point out continuing flaws with the system, the report indicates. Among them, city officials said: Bills that don't add up, although the bottom-line totals are correct, and inaccurate financial reports.

. . .

Problems surfaced with approximately 40,000 accounts when the new system went "live" in February 2000. Since then, the system has failed to bill some accounts at all and issued only sporadic bills to others. The water and sewer bureaus included a 1 percent spike in rate increases for this year to help cover the increased costs.

Oregon Live

-- Anonymous, May 06, 2002