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Recent Billing Inaccuracies Update
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
November 21, 2023
Dear MUD 364 Customer,
Last month, the District received several inquiries regarding bills that reflected much higher usage than the customer expected. The District’s Operator, Municipal Operations & Consulting (MOC), researched the matter and discovered it had made errors that resulted in approximately 200 inaccurate bills. The MUD 364 Board of Directors would like to provide District customers with an update on how the errors occurred, what has been done to correct inaccurate bills, and steps MOC is taking to avoid this in the future.
In early October, MOC discovered one of its employees had likely falsified water meter readings for at least a portion of the District in July and August. To determine which customers were impacted, MOC manually re-read every water meter, audited all customer invoices, and analyzed customer historical usage data to identify inconsistencies. These steps were taken for all MUD 364 customers whether or not the customer had contacted the District or MOC about an unusually highwater bill. MOC identified approximately 200 impacted customers. These customers were sent a corrected invoice. Because some accounts were incorrectly underbilled in July and/or August, some customers ended up with a credit, while others had a balance.
MOC has assured the District that it has redressed all incorrect bills, but if you believe you were impacted, please contact MOC’s customer service department at 281-367-5511. MOC has read all water meters twice this month to verify the accuracy of initial reads, and compared the two new readings for accuracy. Fortunately, both reads were found to be accurate and dependable. Additionally, MOC has implemented safeguards in its billing/meter reading software and the process by which its employees manually read water meters.
The MUD 364 Board apologizes for the burden this has caused District customers. The Board remains committed to ensuring all customer concerns are adequately addressed.
Sincerely,
Harris County Municipal Utility District No. 364 Board of Directors
New Fiber Line Installation Notice
Ezee Fiber is in the community installing fiber in the road right of way (ROW). This is the area in front of your home between the sidewalk and the street. Fiber is typically installed along the rear of the lot in the designated utility easements.
The ROW is owned by the County. MUD 364 cannot prevent work in the ROW and we have not received any notifications of how Ezee Fiber will progress through the community.
Of concern for all of us, including the MUD, is the amount of infrastructure located in the ROW.
Typical infrastructure includes, but is not limited to:
- Sewer lines
- Water lines
- Fire hydrants
- Water meters
- Sprinkler systems
- Subsurface drainage and shut off valves
- Driveways
- Sidewalks
Please assist us by reporting any issues/leaks immediately by contacting MUD 364’s operator, Municipal Operations and Consulting (MOC). Their 24-hour Customer service emergency phone number is (281) 367-5511.
The following information can be extremely helpful to the MUD in recovering damages for any damage caused by Ezee Fiber: date and time of crew seen performing work, description of vehicle, vehicle license plate, company logo on vehicle, and pictures of crews/vehicles performing the work.
If your personal property is damaged, please contact Laura Cantu with Ezee Fiber at Laura.Cantu@ezeefiber.com, or 713-255-7500, https://ezeefiber.com/.
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