Escondido, Calif., Fixes Overcharge to Utility Customers

ESCONDIDO, Calif. -- After almost four years, the city of Escondido has corrected a computer glitch that wrongfully charged late fees to 447 of its utility customers.

The mistake, which affected 52 businesses and 395 residents, cost rate payers a total of $19,624. The city's utility district serves about 28,000 customers.

On Thursday, city officials said they regretted the overcharges and that utility customers could expect to see a credit on their bill by June, if they haven't seen it already.

According to Gil Rojas, the city's director of finance, the problem started in 2000 when the city switched over to a computer software program called PeopleSoft. An overcharge was mistakenly levied on some new customers who had promptly paid their utility bills for a year and then were refunded the deposit they paid to start their service.