An eastern North Carolina community is launching a water meter system upgrade after a recent audit found several meters aren’t properly sending water usage data.
The Town of Newport held an emergency town council meeting on Wednesday, after several customers reported bills in the thousands.
Town leaders said upgrades will be rolled out in phases over the next three years, beginning with the installation of 600 new meters this year.
The Town Council approved transferring $100,000 from the Capital Reserve Sewer Fund to augment the amount already budgeted for meter replacements this fiscal year, bringing the total for the first phase of a multi-year project to upgrade aging equipment to nearly $210,000.
Water bills for this month will be based on each customer’s average usage over the past 12 months, and officials said manual meter reads taken during the inspection process will serve as a new usage baseline beginning with the next billing cycle.
The Town will also continue to work with customers affected by back billing to review their accounts, discuss resolution options, and ensure fairness.
