There was an S&WB that swallowed a fly

See, they swallowed the ordinance to replace the ordinance to fix the billing errors...

The ordinance, which replaces one passed in 2022, matches laws passed in the spring legislative session. The rules are aimed at stabilizing billing, long a source of public outrage, while the S&WB replaces underground meters with new “smart” meters that track usage in real time. 

“We are hoping to have this issue resolved forever," Council Vice President JP Morrell said Thursday.

(Forever! Okay) 

That means they needed the "smart meters" to fix the "wonky software" that was supposed to fix the "human errors"... 

Utility officials say the smart meters will eliminate the need for estimates, reduce human errors and replace wonky software, which have all been blamed for inaccuracies. Half the city’s 144,000 meters are set to be replaced by the end of this year, and the rest by the end of 2025.

(The smart metering is a dubious solution, though) 

By the end of 2022, there will be over 124 million smart meters installed in 78% of U.S. households, according to data released in April by the Edison Foundation’s Institute for Electric Innovation. But less than 3% of today’s smart meters fulfill 2009 promises of customer savings and that must be prevented in the coming Energy Department-funded deployment, according to a September analysis by Mission:data Coalition.

“Utilities used federal and state funds to deploy smart meters and many explicitly promised to empower customers” to lower bills and earn rewards for supporting system peak demand reductions, said Mission:data President and analysis lead author Michael Murray. “The public policy failure is that utilities benefited from returns on capital expenditures and reduced operational costs but did not deliver those customer benefits,” he said.

Which is why they needed the contractor to fix... well, I guess, the continuing billing errors.

HGI will see a significant boost in compensation with its new role, a reflection of the higher volume of work it will perform, said Council member Joe Giarrusso, who sponsored the ordinance with Morrell. Its current contract is for $600,000, and the council voted Thursday to extend the contract through the end of next year with maximum compensation of $3.4 million.

Giarrusso said the council opted not to put the contract out to bid so the new appeal procedure could get up and running as quickly as possible.

Yes, yes, of course. Oh, also, they need a second contractor to fix the... wait, I think I'm lost here. 

The new billing ordinance prohibits estimated meter readings starting next year, and offers customers the option of receiving fixed bill amounts. It also mandates a contractor to hear all appeals and make bill adjustments the contractor deems necessary. A separate contractor will be hired to ensure bills are correctly sent in the first place.

Is that the mail? They need to pay a company to mail things for them?

How many private contractors should it take for a public agency to fulfill its basic administrative functions? The answer should be zero, right? This is just absurd. Nobody's bill will improve here. But some consulting companies will make a chunk of change off of the deal.  Seems to be the only thing that matters.