Good evening, 

Tonight, I attended the Apex Town Council meeting to hear the results of the third-party audit of the Town's utility billing system conducted by Berry Dunn McNeil and Parker, LLC.

First, Town Manager Randy Vosburg informed the council that the vendor that provides the paper bills has closed. The Town is searching for a new vendor. If you receive paper bills, you will be impacted.  Mr. Vosburg said the Town will communicate the appropriate next steps for those receiving paper bills, but he advised to visit the Town's e-suite portal to view your digital billing statement.

Regarding the audit presentation: the auditors reviewed the Town's billing procedure/system and, separately, reviewed a small sample of bills from each billing cycle; they did not review all bills. They found that, except for one bill, everyone else in the samples were underbilled.

The auditors then asked the Town whether they wanted a review of all bills or an opt-in review of resident bills. After going into closed session to confer with the town's attorney, the council discussed the opt-in option and Mayor Gilbert requested public input prior to any formal opt-in sign up because, in part, customers would be responsible for paying whatever amount an opt-in analysis found.

Councilman Zegerman questioned why more public input would be necessary.

Details of the process for public input and the opt-in form will be forthcoming from Mr. Vosburg. 

The auditor's presentation tonight did not include more specifics, which I found to be very disappointing, but they promised to release their full report to the public. I will continue to hold them to account with your support. (A reminder, I am not soliciting any money through this petition!)

Bottom line--and forgive me for burying the lede--the Town will move ahead to recoup overdue and delinquent bills. The timeline for this and when to begin charging a fine for overdue bills is yet to be finalized.

I will continue to keep you updated, and I wanted to thank everyone who signed and supported the petition and those who attended council meetings and spoke to the council on this issue. It has been a long 11 months.