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Elk River <br /> Municipal Utilities UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING <br /> TO: FROM: <br /> ERMU Commission Theresa Slominski—Finance & Office Manager <br /> MEETING DATE: AGENDA ITEM NUMBER: <br /> February 13, 2018 6.1b <br /> SUBJECT: <br /> Staff Update <br /> ACTION REQUESTED: <br /> None <br /> DISCUSSION: <br /> • As a follow-up from last month, the running PCA balance at December 31, 2017 was a <br /> credit of$150,405. We had a large credit of$485,625 at the beginning of 2017 with the <br /> balance brought forward from the prior year. We decided to retain part of it to offset <br /> 2017 anticipated PCA charges and returned $245,799 to customers in March 2017. <br /> Accumulated PCA charges and credits for 2017 totaled a charge of$89,421. <br /> • Our first full month of cycled billings completed and we are now in our second month. <br /> The processes occurring each week have gone smoothly and staff seems to be settling in <br /> well to the change. The biggest hurdle was the volume of phone calls from customers <br /> who were unaware of the change, and therefore, confused, or who were just upset that the <br /> change was occurring and their payment date was moving. We did also hear from some <br /> individuals who were pleased with their billing and related payment date(s) moving. This <br /> has been a long planning process of almost a full year to implement the change to cycled <br /> billing, and a huge commendation goes to Jennie Nelson for its success upon rollout. <br /> MANY people helped with the implementation and so efforts of Michelle V., Michelle <br /> M., Mike Tietz,the CSR group, and the metering group should also be commended. <br /> • With the cycle change, it was noticed that the payments outstanding at the due date were <br /> much higher than normal (almost twice) in the early cycles. We speculated this was due <br /> to the short duration between billings, and given the heightened sensitivity to the change <br /> in payment dates, decided to not apply penalties this month. Penalties average around <br /> $20,000 per month and so that will be a slight change in January's financials when <br /> comparing year to year. <br /> • Melissa, our Accountant, had a baby boy January 24, 2018 and will be out on maternity <br /> leave for twelve weeks. Our Purchasing Specialist, Geri, has given her notice and so we <br /> will be bringing in a temporary staff member until that position is replaced. <br /> Page 1 of 1 <br /> 154 <br />