Some city residents have faced woes since Jan. storm

By HEATHER HOWARD MONROE -- City officials are working to figure out why some residents are still having problems with their utility bills - woes that have plagued some city customers since the beginning of the year.

Monroe resident Cynthia Jordan told the Monroe City Council during Tuesday's meeting that for several months, she has been receiving bills at erratic intervals. The lengths of the billing periods are not uniform, Jordan said, and sometimes run for unusually long or unusually short periods. And Jordan typically gets two bills during a month's time. It has been so difficult to decipher the bills that Jordan has had to visit the city utilities office to find out what she owes, she said.

So far, city officials have not been able to explain the problems to her, she said. "I'm confused," Jordan said. "I am climbing the walls." Jordan said many of her friends and family members are having similar problems.

Mayor Judy Davis said during the meeting that she, too, has had difficulties with her bills. The city will help Jordan figure out what's going wrong and continue working to straighten out the problems, Davis said.

For the past few months, residents have spoken out during community meetings about problems with abnormally high bills and unusual billing cycles.

Earlier this year, computer glitches and troubles related to the January snowstorm caused a flurry of billing problems for city customers and Union County utility customers.

After the city converted its computer system late last year, some Monroe customers received bills with charges on them for more days than the typical 31-day billing cycle. And then the January snowstorm, which dumped about a foot of snow in the county and cut power on some streets for days, made it difficult for crews to read meters, officials said. In some cases, meters were blocked for days with snow and debris.

Union County officials also experienced problems after software conversion.

Public Works Director Jon Dyer said this week that overall, the county's billing system is back to normal.

Glitches crop up when the county upgrades computer systems, he said. But that hasn't caused widespread billing problems recently. "We may have individual problems here and there. But I think we're pretty much back on track."

For information about Monroe utility bills, call (704) 282-4511. Union County customers should call (704) 296-4210.

In other business Tuesday, the Monroe City Council proposed an increase in rates that taxi drivers may charge in the city. The council is considering increasing the initial passenger fee from $1.25 to $1.75. The cost for each additional mile would go up, too, from $1.25 to $1.75. The city last raised taxi rates in 1990. A public hearing on the proposed rate increases is planned during the council's Aug. 15 meeting.

http://www.charlotte.com/observer/local/union/docs/council0804.htm

-- Doris (reaper1@mindspring.com), August 09, 2000