During Tuesday’s Amarillo City Council meeting, Assistant City Manager Rich Gagnon outlined the findings and corrective actions related to widespread concerns over unusually high water utility bills issued in April and received by residents in May. Gagnon, who also serves as the City’s chief information officer, detailed a multi-pronged investigation into billing irregularities and explained how the City of Amarillo is working to resolve customer impacts while improving system reliability moving forward.
City staff began reviewing the issue after numerous residents reported unexpectedly high water bills following the April billing cycle. According to Gagnon, the City had recently transitioned to a new billing vendor after determining that the previous provider was not meeting service expectations. The prior vendor’s practice of deploying system updates and patches without proper coordination reportedly caused disruptions in billing functionality, contributing to inconsistencies in customer accounts.
To identify the root causes, City staff analyzed six years of historical billing data. The review revealed three primary factors that contributed to the irregular April bills.
The first issue involved an extended billing cycle caused by the transition to the new system. Instead of the typical 30-day billing period, April’s cycle covered 36 days. This extension affected approximately 78 percent of water utility customers in Amarillo, Texas, resulting in higher-than-normal charges for that month. City officials noted that the following billing cycle is expected to be shorter than usual, which should help balance out the temporary increase seen in April.
In addition to the longer billing window, around 1,300 customers were billed at a higher water-usage tier than they would normally fall under. Because tiered pricing increases the cost per unit as usage rises, even a moderate shift in classification led to noticeably higher bills for those accounts. The City has confirmed that these customers will receive credits on their next billing statements to offset the tier-related overcharges.
The second category of issues involved roughly 1,250 accounts that were flagged for unusually high usage compared to their historical consumption patterns. These anomalies are being reviewed on a case-by-case basis by billing staff. Customers affected by these flags will be contacted directly by City representatives to discuss their accounts, verify usage, and determine whether corrections are needed. Once investigations are complete, any necessary adjustments will be applied to ensure billing accuracy.
City officials also identified a separate technical issue affecting one billing district, where usage readings appeared to be doubled in the system. Despite the reporting error, customers were charged only for their actual consumption. This issue has since been resolved, according to the City’s internal review.
The third factor contributing to higher bills was environmental and operational in nature. April’s dry weather conditions in the region led to increased irrigation and outdoor water usage across the community. At the same time, the City has completed a broad rollout of advanced metering infrastructure over the past year. These upgraded meters provide more precise measurement of water usage compared to older systems. As a result, consumption that may have previously gone unrecorded or estimated is now being captured more accurately, contributing to higher reported usage in year-over-year comparisons.
Gagnon emphasized that the combination of more accurate metering, seasonal weather conditions, and the system transition created a convergence of factors that amplified the appearance of unusually high bills. City staff have already submitted their findings for internal audit review and plan to forward the results to external and technical auditors to ensure a comprehensive evaluation of the billing system and processes.
In addition to addressing current discrepancies, the City is developing automated monitoring tools designed to detect unusual spikes in water usage more quickly. These systems aim to allow staff to proactively reach out to customers when anomalies occur, reducing the likelihood of future billing surprises.
As a temporary relief measure, the City of Amarillo has suspended late fees and service disconnections related to water utility accounts through June. Officials say this pause is intended to give residents time to receive corrected bills and for ongoing reviews to be completed without additional financial penalties.
City leaders have framed the investigation as part of a broader effort to modernize utility billing systems while restoring public confidence. While the April billing cycle created challenges for many residents, officials maintain that the corrective actions now underway will lead to greater accuracy and transparency in future billing periods.
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