Monterey Officials want answers as to why a rate error undercharging the town’s customers went undiscovered since 2020.
Alderman Jamie Phillips said he discovered the error and went to the town’s auditor to discuss it. Phillips said he found that the auditor was using different information in the auditing process than what the town has in its own records.
“The investigation’s still going on,” Phillips said. “I mean, I’m still looking into it. But, yeah, ’cause the first place we went was the audit. It was like ‘hey, why didn’t he catch it?’ And his numbers aren’t even in the realm of what we were looking at, so.”
Mayor Alex Garcia said the mistake originally occurred because the town’s software company put the town’s water rate at $3.68 instead of $6.38. Garcia said it is also unclear why the issue was not discovered in the water study an external company conducted for Monterey in 2022.
“City Hall does have a calculator and if somebody wants to know what their bill is going to increase by you can call city hall, give them the amount of gallons you put in, and they’ll give you (an) exact increase,” Garcia said.
Alderman Cecilia Paulsen asked why the issue was not discovered for five years since those numbers are subject to auditing. Garcia said he has the same question for the town’s auditor.
“It’s something that we had to fix as soon as we found it,” Garcia said. “‘Cause if we don’t fix it, the comptroller will tell us to fix it, so they’ll make us fix it.”
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