photo by: Journal-World Illustration
Water meters and billing in Lawrence are set to get a multimillion-dollar update, paving the way for changes to the city’s utility rate structure.
The city’s 2019 proposed budget, which the Lawrence City Commission is scheduled to adopt next week, includes $4.45 million toward the installation of automated utility meters. That amount is in addition to $6.42 million allocated for the project as part of the 2018 budget, bringing the total amount close to $11 million.
Deputy Director of Utilities Mike Lawless said the city has about 34,000 residential and commercial utility customers, and that utility staff must check the current mechanical water meters manually for monthly usage and anytime there is a stop or transfer in service. Lawless said that the new automated meters, coupled with a new billing system, will capture and transmit usage data digitally instead.
“We’ll be able to take that digital information and send it through the communication of whatever system that we choose, so that we don’t have to have a person walk out there and actually read the dials,” Lawless said.
Lawless said that currently the department has seven full-time positions that handle meter reading and other meter issues, and that he anticipates that the department will eventually be able to reduce that to five. He said that it’s estimated that the efficiencies of the new metering and billing system will cover the costs after about 12 years.
Read more: LJWorld.