For years there is consistently a large number of Allen residents that receive large water bills in September and October. We are very often met with the city explaining that we may have leaks or increased irrigation because of the heat. While we do agree irrigation can increase consumption some, there are too many instances of improbable and impossible consumption readings. Additionally, if we look back at months leading up to the high billed month they were billed less than they should have been. If we would be billed correctly that water would fall between $4.00-$6.26 per unit, but because it is being billed in one month with our tiered billing that same water is being billed as high as $14.10 a unit, resulting in bills hundreds or a thousand more than it should be. When we approach the city about this we are told that the meter doesn't lie. We are billed what the meter reads. The problem with this argument is that when meter readers either walk by or ride by in their cars and collect the TouchRead data it is sent to one computer that only one man is supposed to have access to. At that time he is able to see if the device collected the information, as well as a time stamp, a code that would say if it had to be manually entered or if it was electronically collected, and the reader ID of who read your meter. The computer will only store the current months data and what was billed the previous month. The previous billed is subtracted from the current read and that consumption is sent to billing. Once a 3rd month is collected the 2 months prior read is deleted. The only data we are left with is data sent to billing. We lose any ability to see if that data was edited or manually entered rather than read. We are told this is not important because they trust all of their employees and the data is not needed for billing so there is no reason to keep this information. This was the exact argument of the City of Austin before they had an audit that found some of their readers had obtained the supervisor's log in info and they were manually entering data on the computer rather than actual collections for months at a time. The city of Allen looks great on paper. With the finances we have we should not have such antiquated collections and record keepings. We currently have 7 readers who collect over 31,000 readings either by foot (or in their trucks, although that is against protocol). Riding in their trucks to collect is a violation of their rules. If one corner is being cut how can they so strongly say no others are. In 2011 the City did admit to WFAA that one reader was making up reads rather than reading true data. The city denied this on multiple occasions until one citizen finally caught the attention of the news. They settled with some of the complaints at that time. Coincidently, it was the same months we are claiming is still happening. We just want transparency. If there is nothing wrong on the city's side they should have no problem being open to these changes.

The goal: Independent Audit that would include billing periods May-November (*Edited from original request of October at the request of residents)

The goal: Multiple people verifying the computer that houses the collected data is being collected properly and no averages or estimates are being entered.

The goal: Storage of ALL data ever collected for a period of 3 years, including codes that would indicate if the data had been edited at any time or manually entered, regardless of its relevance to billing. 

We are not asking for anything but transparency. There is a very obvious problem with the city and it's time for them to step up and work to fix it. As citizens we deserve better than we are being treated by our city.  

I am updating this petition on 9/17/2020 with this information:

I became aware that they have GPS on the vehicles the readers use. There were many instances no one in our neighborhood saw a reader the entire month. But, on months he was seen he was always in his car reading from the window with the stick out of his driver’s side. So, I requested the GPS records for the days they claimed my meter was read. I requested May-October. May shows he collected on the 22nd, but my bill says it was the 23rd, June the bill reflects the same day it shows collected. July shows collected the 23rd, but the bill shows 24th. They were not able to find GPS records for August or September. September was the month my bill read 100,300 gallons. August was 51,800. This is when I began speaking out and have seen my bills become within expected range since. If they are claiming no information is ever changed once it’s loaded directly from the reading device, my dates should NEVER be different than the dates the device collected it. The fact that this still isn’t causing any movement at the city level is astonishing. I’ve had a lot of people ask me about the new billing system. THIS NEW SYSTEM DOENS’T FIX ANYTHING. The collection process is still the exact same. The process in which it’s reported to the billing department uses the same process. I was told they were going to try to include the time stamp with the exact date read on the bills. This would allow people the opportunity to know exactly when they came by, and that could be compared to cameras if there was debate. This did not happen.