By: Sylene Argent, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Essex Free Press

Bringing water/wastewater billing in-house has resulted in significant cost-savings and operational improvements, Essex Council learned at its May 1 meeting.

On March 20, 2023, Council issued a notice to discontinue the use of ELK Energy Inc. as the subcontractor for the Town’s water/wastewater billing. On January 1, 2024, the Town of Essex took over this service.

The project – which brought the billing service under the umbrella of the municipality – was completed around $367,000 under budget, which was mostly due to savings in software. In addition, annual administration costs have also decreased substantially, Heather MacDonald, Manager of Revenue and Customer Relations, explained to Council.

The Town has also been able to replace more than 1,000 outdated or failed water meters over the past two-years, which MacDonald said has improved billing accuracy and has ensured water usage is properly tracked and billed.

Several customer service and operational enhancements have been implemented, MacDonald added, including proactive monitoring of high-water usage to help residents identify leaks sooner, increased enrollment in e-billing, and improved coordination between the Revenue Services Division and the Environmental Services Divisions through electronic work order systems. Both divisions also now share an appointment calendar.

Staff are also reviewing properties that may be connected to municipal services, but are not currently being billed, as well as addressing unauthorized water connections, she noted.

“Overall, the transition has improved efficiency, accountability, customer service, and internal operations,” MacDonald shared.

Director of Corporate Services, Kate Rowe, noted that 31 properties were identified for further investigation after the Town took the water billing in-house. The process allowed the Town to identify properties that may have had a connection to the water system and were receiving water services, but for unknown reasons, were not receiving accurate billing. That has since been rectified.

In responding to Deputy Mayor Rob Shepley’ request to speak more on the properties not connected, but have the service in front of their house that are now being billed, Rowe noted there were properties connected to the municipal services that may not necessarily have been using the water, but should have been receiving a flat fee on a monthly basis for the connection itself, as per Town by-laws.

Shepley has received calls from residents who had water running past their properties and they were not charged before, but now they are receiving a bill.

Rowe said there are some properties that may have had services brought to the lot. That connection is what drives the flat, monthly fee.

Shepley also asked about the Town being able to identify high-water usage, as he did not think there was an ability to do that on its system.

Rowe said the Town tries its best to assist residents who have concerns over high usage. There are some tips on essex.ca that residents can review, or they can call the customer service team, who may be able to help them identify a source of a potential leak.

MacDonald added if the Customer Service team gets replies back from the Environmental Service Department, they are analyzed. If they identify a property is significantly higher than the average of 15-cubic meters a month, they will reach out to let them know the staff believes they may have a leak.

Councillor Kim Verbeek recognized former CAO Doug Sweet and current CAO Kate Giurissevich for getting the project to this point and convincing Council to support bringing the billing in-house.

Mayor Sherry Bondy has heard a few comments that residents are perceiving their water bills to be higher. That could be due to a whole bunch of things, including usage or annual rate increases.

Kevin Girard, Director of Infrastructure Services, relayed a good tip to check for possible leaks: turn off all fixtures in the home to ensure there is no water usage at all. Then, go to the water meter, and use a flashlight on top of it to get the numbers to come up. If the meter is running while all fixtures are off, then you know you have some type of leak. He suggested doing that a few times.

Calling a licensed plumber is also a good idea, he added.

“I’m pretty proud of this move this term,” Essex Mayor Sherry Bondy commented.