休斯顿市议会今日表决水表合同追加拨款：拟增550万美元并提高合同上限
位于德克萨斯州哈里斯县的休斯顿市议会定于今日（10月21日）就一项追加拨款进行表决：市公共工程部要求为与 Sensus USA 公司的智能水表（高级计量基础设施）合同再追加550万美元拨款。表决结果尚未公布。
据 KPRC 2 报道，这笔资金拟从水务与污水系统综合建设基金中支出，资金来自居民每月缴纳的水费与污水费。该合同于2020年11月24日经市议会授予 Sensus USA，法令编号2020-0992，为期十年，Sensus 负责运营全市远程抄表网络。
这笔账的口径需要分清。合同最初的金额上限为3800万美元，首期拨款1850万美元；2024年10月，市议会曾在未提高上限的情况下追加拨款1605万4610美元；市府迄今已为该合同实际支出3432万2180.55美元。本次若获通过，追加的550万美元将把合同上限提高到4350万美元——这是上限口径（3800万＋550万），不是累计拨款额；按拨款累计，三笔拨款合计约4005万美元。
公共工程部解释，追加原因是材料、设备与运营成本上涨，新资金预计可支撑系统运转至2027年底。报道同时指出，目前仍有约24万只水表尚未接入新的远程抄表系统。
（来源：KPRC 2）
Houston Council Votes Today on Water-Meter Contract: $5.5 Million More Sought, Cap Would Rise
The Houston City Council, in Harris County, Texas, is scheduled to vote today (Oct. 21) on an additional appropriation: Houston Public Works is asking for another $5.5 million for its smart water meter (Advanced Metering Infrastructure) contract with Sensus USA. The result of the vote has not yet been announced.
According to KPRC 2, the money would come from the Water and Sewer System Consolidated Construction Fund, which is funded by residents' monthly water and sewer bills. The contract was awarded to Sensus USA by the City Council on Nov. 24, 2020, under Ordinance No. 2020-0992, for a ten-year term, with Sensus operating the city's remote meter-reading network.
The figures require care. The contract's original maximum was $38 million, with $18.5 million funded up front. In October 2024, the council appropriated an additional $16,054,610 without raising the ceiling, and the city has spent $34,322,180.55 on the contract to date. If approved, the new $5.5 million would raise the contract ceiling to $43.5 million — that is the ceiling figure ($38 million plus $5.5 million), not cumulative appropriations; total appropriations across the three rounds would be about $40.05 million.
Public Works attributes the request to higher material, equipment and operating costs, and says the new money should carry the system's operations through the end of 2027. About 240,000 water meters have yet to be connected to the new remote-reading system, according to the report.
(Source: KPRC 2)
来源：KPRC 2
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：休斯顿市政厅（资料图）。Michael Barera 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，维基共享资源 / Houston City Hall (file photo). Photo by Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
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