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Update on Recent Billing Inaccuracies
HARRIS COUNTY MUNICIPAL UTILITY DISTRICT NO. 364
c/o Polley Garza PLLC
2929 Allen Parkway, Suite 3450 • Houston, Texas 77019-7120
Board of Directors
Megan Bradley, President Holly Isbell, Vice President Dale R. Trevino, Secretary
Erin Corken, Investment Officer Lisa Foley, Assistant Secretary
October 17, 2023
Dear MUD 364 Customer,
The MUD 364 Board of Directors would like to address recent customer concerns regarding inaccurate billing. The District received several inquiries over the last month regarding bills that appeared to reflect much higher usage than the customer expected. The District’s Operator, Municipal Operations & Consulting (MOC), promptly looked into the matter and determined that on at least a few occasions, there had been an inaccurate meter reading, resulting in an inaccurate bill.
Since then, MOC has isolated the issue to meter readings that occurred in July and August. Specifically, incorrect low meter reads in July and/or August resulted in bills for less than what the customers actually used during that billing period. When the meter was correctly read in September, the usage for the billing period was substantially higher due to the previous billing period’s artificially low reading. While customers may have received inaccurate bills in August, September and October, the total water usage for this period (i.e. the total number of gallons of water displayed on a customer’s water meter) for the entire date range is accurate. Unfortunately, the discrepancy resulted in higher bills because the District’s water rates use a tiered structure in which the more water you use, the higher the cost per gallon.
If a customer used a total of 40,000 gallons during the months of July – October but was billed for 20,000 gallons or more of this usage all in the month of September, the rate for this portion and the resulting bill would be higher than if the 40,000 gallons was evenly distributed over a four-month period.
MOC’s billing department has taken the following actions since determining the billing error occurred:
- MOC has manually re-read every customer’s water meter to determine that current usage is correct. This was completed whether or not you contacted the District or MOC.
- Once the current meter read is verified, MOC analyzed each customer’s historical usage data. MOC then compared the total usage for the July – October 2023 billing period(s) to the historical usage for the same time period in previous year(s).
- Billing adjustments were made for accounts that appeared to have an incorrect reading for the July – October 2023 billing period(s). The total usage for the July – October 2023 billing period(s) was distributed evenly across the month(s) that appear to have been artificially low due to the incorrect meter read.
Billing adjustments were offered in the form of a credit on your water bill. - The NHCRWA fee is a flat, pass-through fee that is applied per 1,000 gallons of water. This portion of the bill will not be adjusted.
- If MOC determined your account required an adjustment, you will receive a “REVISED” invoice with an insert stating the following: “The enclosed invoice is a revision to the invoice that was sent out on 09/26/2023. While reviewing district accounts, our billing department discovered a mistake in the historical meter reads that affected your account. After verifying the most recent meter read is accurate, the mistake has been corrected and your account has been revised. Please feel free to call our office at 281-367-5511 if you have any questions.”
As of the date of this letter, MOC has completed its review of all MUD 364 customer accounts. MOC determined that only a small percentage of customers were affected and has mailed revised invoices to these customers. If you have not received a revised invoice and have questions about your account, please contact MOC’s customer service department at 281-367-5511.
The MUD 364 Board apologizes for the frustration this has caused. We stand committed to ensuring that this issue is fully resolved for all affected residents.
Sincerely,
Harris County Municipal Utility District No. 364 Board of Directors
District Downgrades to Stage 1 Drought Contingency Measures
Due to recent rain and drop in temperatures, the District is immediately terminating Stage 2 of its Drought Contingency Plan and is reimplementing Stage 1 and requests that all customers immediately begin implementing the following actions:
- Limit irrigation to no more than two (2) days per week, between 7:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. following the schedules below:
- Sundays and Thursdays for single family residential customers with even-numbered street addresses.
- Saturdays and Wednesdays for single family residential customers with odd-numbered street addresses.
- Tuesdays and Fridays for all other customers.
- No watering on Mondays.
- Check for and repair all leaks, dripping faucets, and running toilets.
- Utilize water conservation measures such as displacement bags, low-flow shower heads and leak detection tablets.
- Additional water conservation tips can be found www.irrygator.com.
These measures are voluntary, but should drought conditions worsen, mandatory measures may be implemented.
For more information on drought conditions in the area and voluntary water conservation measures being implemented by the North Harris County Regional Water Authority, please visit: https://www.nhcrwa.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/2019-Drought-Contingency-Plan.pdf
MUD 364 Moves to Stage 2 of Drought Contingency Plan
MUD 364 has implemented Stage 2 of its Drought Contingency Plan (“DCP”) in response to current drought conditions in the Houston area and the North Harris County Regional Water Authority’s implementation of Stage 2 of its DCP.
All District customers are required to immediately begin implementing the following actions:
- Outdoor watering is limited to no more than two (2) days per week following the schedules below:
- Even-numbered street addresses = Sundays and Thursdays
- Odd-numbered street addresses = Saturdays and Wednesdays
- All other customers = Tuesdays and Fridays
- Outdoor watering is prohibited between the period of 5:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.
- No watering on Mondays
- Repair all leaks, dripping faucets, and running toilets within 72 hours of discovery
- Utilize water conservation measures such as displacement bags, low-flow shower heads and leak detection tablets
- Additional water conservation tips can be found www.irrygator.com.
Compliance with these restrictions is mandatory.
For more information on the North Harris County Regional Water Authority’s DCP, please visit: https://www.nhcrwa.com/2023/08/stage-2-dcp/