About 13,000 Escondido water customers were overcharged roughly $2.5 million, another 10,500 were underbilled nearly $3 million as a result of this billing snafu.
ESCONDIDO, Calif. — Thousands of utility customers in Escondido, California, will see changes to their wastewater service bills following a massive billing error that lasted for 14 months. The mistake, which affected a total of over 20,000 households, resulted in approximately $2.5 million in overcharges and nearly $3 million in undercharges.
"On behalf of the city of Escondido, I want to apologize to each and every one of you, and every resident. This was a simple yet colossal mistake that can never happen again," said Escondido Mayor Dane White.
The error occurred when the rate calculation formula adopted by the city was not properly coded into the billing software system. As a result, about 13,000 customers were overcharged, while another 10,500 were underbilled.
Christopher McKinney, Deputy City Manager, explained, "Where there is a very real impact is that we underbilled about 10,500 customers."
To rectify the situation, the city council has decided to credit the overcharged customers on their October billing statements. However, those who were underbilled will face an additional $10 monthly fee starting in January to recoup the lost revenue. That fee will remain on their bills for as long as it takes to repay the amount they were undercharged over the past 14 months.
City Manager Sean McGlynn warned of potential consequences if the funds are not collected.
"Non-collection of some of this money may in fact impact future rates," he said.
City officials stressed that foregoing the recovery of these funds would result in delays to critical wastewater system projects, potentially increasing costs in the long run.
The decision to recover all underbilled funds was not made lightly. Mayor White expressed concern about the impact on vulnerable residents, asking, "Is it fair to go back and say we need all of this money? Well, I think there's a small minority of people in Escondido who are going to hurt beyond repair, in particular senior citizens and mobile home park residents."
Council Member Judy Fitzgerald emphasized the need for compassion, saying, "For those that absolutely cannot pay that we can identify, we also have to have a plan for them."
The city is also vowing to work with those residents who may struggle with this increase.
"I assure you, we are going to be very customer friendly throughout all of this, because even the process of back-billing is placing a burden on our customers," McKinney said.
Council Member Joe Garcia also acknowledged the gravity of the situation, adding, "I think that that is about as best as we can get with the terrible situation that we got ourselves into, because we are the ones who got ourselves into this and we shouldn't forget that."
In addition to the billing corrections, Escondido residents will also face a previously approved rate increase that was postponed during the investigation of the billing error. This annual increase will take effect next month.