13 | Audit of Public Utilities Billing and Collection Processes July 2024 3. Non-Compliance with County Resolution No. 2022-186, Adoption of Sarasota County Public Utilities Department Water and Wastewater Rules and Regulations, with one (1) instance of a customer not credited a required refund Observation Sarasota County Resolution No. 2022-186 was adopted to establish rules and regulations for the operation of the Sarasota County Utility System. Within the Resolution, it states “In the event of an overbilling, the Department shall refund the overcharge to the Customer based on available records. If the commencement date of the overbilling cannot be determined, then an estimate of the overbilling shall be made based on the Customer’s past consumption.” The auditor selected a stratified sample of one hundred (100) accounts out of a population of 4,361 accounts that were credited a refund. During the review of the one hundred (100) sampled accounts, observations included one (1) refund not in compliance with County Resolution No. 2022-186. A customer remitted a payment of $634.40 for a closed account without any outstanding bills or balances. Despite roughly four (4) months passing since the payment, no refund was issued to the customer. Recommendation Upon notification of the discrepancy to the Public Utilities Department, the refund was promptly issued and the matter was corrected. The Public Utilities Department could enhance the billing system to automatically flag an account if a payment is made to a finalized account and requires a review to determine if a refund can be issued. Management Response Sarasota County Resolution No. 2022-186 addresses refunds due to overbilling. While the resolution does not specifically cover overpayments due to customer error, the Utility agrees that a mechanism should be in place to review and refund accounts closed with a credit balance. The Utility’s technology team is developing a Cognos Report that will provide the call center team with this information weekly. Additionally, the new CIS (Itineris UMAX) will be designed to automatically issue a refund request for any account that has been finalized for 30 days and maintain a credit balance. Completion Date: Friday, July 19th.
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