EPB President Harold DePriest denied Wednesday that EPB owes the city over $1 million on street light billing.
He stated, “EPB has never said that we owe the city $1.2 million. When all the facts are taken into account, the financial difference is close to a wash.”
Mr. DePriest said, "I regret that this complicated issue has been oversimplified in some reports. As we’ve said on many previous occasions, EPB and the city are largely in agreement about the misclassification of some street lights, but careful review by Mauldin and Jenkins, an independent accounting firm tasked with looking at this issue, has found that the street light system as a whole actually burned longer and used more power than previously reported.
When all of these issues are considered together the cost factors are nearly even.”
Mr. DePriest also expressed his agreement with comments made during Tuesday’s City Council meeting by City Council Chairman Chip Henderson and several other council members "that the best way to find a solution is through the continued efforts of the Working Group Mayor Berke convened to examine this issue."
“After a great deal of work by EPB in cooperation with independent accounting experts, we have a good understanding of the facts of the situation,” Mr. DePriest said. “I believe the Working Group, which has been examining this issue for some time, is well suited for taking all of the relevant facts into account and coming to a fair solution.”