BILLINGS — After several months of complications with its utility billing software, the city of Billings has hired an independent firm to audit the city's utility billing system.
Minneapolis, Minnesota-based contractor SL-serco Inc. will get to work next week examining residential meters. The goal is to make sure that residential utility bills are accurate.
The company specializes in utility consulting and has been offering services like this for 60 years.
Billings City Administrator Chris Kukulski said the audit should take about 90 days and will cost about $75,000 with funds coming from the city's utility finances.
SL-serco Inc. will select accounts at random to audit and will inspect every part of the billing process.
"We're comfortable that any user errors we found have been really related to software miscalculations," said Kukulski Saturday. "This will give us that opportunity, if there is anything wrong in the system, that it can be identified, and it can be fixed, and if there isn't, they'll provide that independent analysis."
The city's contract with the firm will run through January 31. The findings will be revealed at a public meeting.
Kukulski said that if the audit reveals that another entity is responsible for any errors, the city will pursue a remedy.
