Rocky Mount officials hold special meeting to address ongoing billing issues

The City of Rocky Mount held a special meeting on Wednesday to discuss an ongoing utility billing issue.

The meeting comes after dozens of residents reached out to WRAL News after they received two statements, some just days apart.

In Wednesday's meeting, city leaders provided more information about what led to the billing issue. 

Director of Business & Collections Services Latasha Hall addressed the city council. 

"Here are the facts. The issue was not associated with the city's current financial situation. Customers were not double-billed. Customers were only charged for their actual usage," she said. 

City leaders said they recognized an increase in the timing between meter reading dates and billing dates on December 15th.

They said they took an immediate step to correct it, leading to back-to-back bills for about 26,000 customers.

Rocky Mount City Manager Elton Daniels said there are things he would have changed in hindsight, including some of the ways the issue was communicated to the public. 

"I don't know what else to say than there were multiple failures in the process," he said. 

Residents who spoke to WRAL News said the situation has put people with two bills to pay into a financial bind. Several shared that the bills added up to several hundred dollars in total. Residents like James Parker said his bill was more than double what it normally is.

"I am paying for something that I have got to have. There is no way around it,” Parker said.

Residents like Parker have been lining up for days outside the city's Business Services Center with questions about their bills. 

Councilmember Tom Harris said he felt the meeting did not address the issue as clearly as he'd hoped. 

"I was hoping the final result of this meeting would give them comfort, calm their nerves, reduce their stress...quite honestly, you haven't done that," he said. 

Harris said he and other councilmembers were not involved in the decision to correct the issue when they did, sharing that he did not agree with the decision to do it during the holidays when some people are already pressed for funds. 

Multiple councilmembers called for more opportunities to break down the bills to the public.

"It's going to take some simplified communication," said TJ Walker, Rocky Mount City Councilmember. "It's not every day you look at your bill directly to say what is my usage? Most of the time you just look at the bill directly. I think it is going to take simplified communication to help people understand what has transpired." 

City leaders said they are continuing to review individual bills and bring clarity to customers. You can reach out to them by phone, email or by stopping by the Business Services Center.