TOLEDO, Ohio — Toledo's smart water meter project has hit a snag.
The city's public utilities director, Ed Moore, appeared before Toledo City Council this week asking for more money to help the program continue. It marks the second time the department has had to ask for additional funds.
This time, Moore is asking for just shy of $1 million in city funding and said that delays from the pandemic and supply chain issues have slowed the process.
This request is just eight months after the department requested an additional $5.6 million in funding in May.
WTOL 11 spoke to Council member Katie Moline, who said this project's ballooning budget needs to hit a ceiling before it pops.
"Why are we not done with this project yet?" Moline asked Thursday.
The smart water meter project was promised to ease Toledoans' headaches, but some in city council said it's turning into the city's burden.
Back when it was first announced in the summer of 2022, Toledo city leaders laid out a set $88 million budget to replace all 127,000 of the city's meters by 2023, hoping to bring the city's piping into the digital age.
But neither the deadline nor the budget were able to stick to that plan.
"It's been tens of millions of dollars on top of the original 2020 project budget. Why hasn't this happened? We have so many meters that need to be replaced." Moline said. "We're told it will be finished by the end of this year and I'm not confident in that reality."
Moline is just one of the multiple council members who expressed skepticism Wednesday about the project's increasing budget. It's not the first time council members have raised concerns.
Back in May 2023 when public utilities asked for the $5.6 million budget increase, council members like Cerssandra McPherson were vocally opposed.
"This is on the city, this is on the citizens of Toledo, and now you're coming back and asking for more, and I'm like, 'no'" McPherson told WTOL 11 in May.
But eight of her colleagues disagreed and that funding was approved. Now, in early 2024, only about half of the smart meters have been installed.
Moline said she and her colleagues are scrutinizing their decision on whether or not to approve the newest budget increase.
"I'm questioning my confidence in that this is the last time they come to city council and the ratepayers asking for funds," Moline said.
But she said with the city having already invested over $115 million in this project, council is put in a difficult position.
"If we don't approve this though, does this stall the project, the ultimate completion of this, when we've already invested so much many and so many funds?" Moline said. "Is it prudent at this point to stop at this point and stop the project completely?"
A spokesperson with the public utilities office provided the following statement:
"There are about 40,000 homes left to be installed by the end of the year. This is a tremendous project that will require additional resources to complete promptly and without compromising the quality of service. We continue to encourage residents to schedule the meter replacement upon receipt of their first postcard by calling 1-866-270-9629 or visiting toledo.oh.gov/smart-meters."
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