City staff told the Odessa City Council that a software extraction error in the Munis billing system caused accounts with unread meters to be assigned incorrect consumption, generating inaccurate bills for roughly 1,500 customers. The city identified the problem, corrected the error and is manually reading affected accounts until the billing pipeline is restored.
“The errors have been corrected. All affected accounts will now be read manually until the system's full functionality is restored,” a staff member said during the meeting.
Council members and residents said the backbills were distressing for households and businesses. Resident Tommy Irby said his granddaughter received a bill that was far larger than actual use, and urged the city to avoid repeating the problem. Property owner Jane, who identified herself as owner of Willow Bend Apartments, said her occupancy’s billed monthly consumption jumped from about 50,000 gallons to more than 170,000 gallons after a new smart meter installation and that standard on-site checks did not resolve her questions.
City staff told the council they have contacted affected customers, mailed notices and are offering a 12-month payback arrangement to spread expenses. The staff presentation said the error occurred because the billing extraction process failed to exclude no-read accounts and then populated them with an unexplained consumption figure.
City staff also said Munis went live for the city's billing on Nov. 1, 2021, and that the system is near its capacity of about 50,000 accounts. Officials said they are pursuing an alternative billing system and will visit a peer city to review options.
“We do take full responsibility. We are in the process of working out arrangements,” the staff member said, addressing residents’ concerns and pledging continued outreach and one-on-one meetings.
Council members asked whether the problem could recur. City staff said the current system cannot guarantee it will never happen again and that the city is evaluating other billing platforms used by peer cities.
Public commenters recounted their experiences during the meeting. Resident Jim Fletcher said a single-person household received a bill for 56,000 gallons and told the council, “I’m calling BS on it.” Council members asked staff to pursue a replacement for the billing software and to continue one-on-one outreach with impacted customers.
No formal vote or ordinance resulted from the discussion. Staff said they will continue manual reads for affected accounts, pursue a replacement billing vendor, and meet with customers who request further review.