Iolas leaky water fund will run dry by the end of 2019 without a rate increase, Iola City Council members were told Monday.
The troubled fund has been the focus of several Council discussions this year.
In May, Council members rescinded a plan that would have raised rates immediately, with another hike that would have followed at the start of 2019.
Since then, the Council has set its sights on budget savings, primarily through a smaller workforce.
And while the details of any staff reduction have yet to be worked out, the imminent water fund crisis demands action soon, City Administrator Sid Fleming said.
Fleming opened the discussion by revisiting the three main goals of a healthy water fund.
It generates enough revenue to cover all annual expenses, including personnel costs, equipment and materials and the citys annual $680,000 bond payment for the water plant built in 2005.
It has a healthy reserve, pegged at about $900,000 or enough to cover 90 days operating expenses. The city expects to have about $436,00 in reserve by the end of this year, made possible after Council members made this years water plant payment out of the citys capital projects fund and not the water reserves.
It allows the city to follow through with infrastructure improvements soon to be spelled out through a master plan that could be available by the end of this year or early 2019.
Quite honestly (the master plan) needs are going to be much higher than what were able to bite off, Fleming said, adding the Council will prioritize
which infrastructure improvements should be made first.
Fleming showed the Council a pair of scenarios through rate increases, noting both were insufficient for the long-term stability of the fund.
A 10 percent hike would keep the fund solvent through 2019, but in the red again by the end of 2020 and the reserves depleted by the end of 2022. Coupling a 10 percent rate hike in January with another 5 percent hike in 2020 extends the life of the fund another year, before the reserves are evaporated.
The proposal is a far cry from what we ought to be doing, Fleming said, referring to the $100,000 budgeted for infrastructure improvements.
COUNCIL members who previously voted against the water rate hike, including Gene Myrick, Nancy Ford, Ron Ballard and Mark Peters, acknowledged an increase may be necessary, but urged the Council to wait on making any decisions until the master plan is ready for consideration.
People know were eventually going to have to bite the bullet, said Myrick, who suggested the city phase in the 10-percent hike, through monthly 2-percent increments. That suggestion found little traction among the other Council members.
Ballard noted Flemings rate scenario included a $230,000 spending increase from 2019 to 2020, and another $100,000 spending increase in 2021. Rate hikes totaling 15 percent, doesnt solve the problem, he said. Theres always something going on. Why are we always running out of money?
Because the city has 100-year-old pipes, and no one has replaced them, Mayor Jon Wells responded. If we started budgeting 100 years ago for this, we wouldnt be in this situation to have to come up with $300,000, $400,000 or $500,000, but thats the scenario were in.
Fleming noted his proposed expenditures from 2020 onward were flat, even though he expects the citys master plan to require significantly more than the $100,000 he has budgeted those years for infrastructure projects.
It would be a shame to move forward with something that starts dwindling (the water fund reserve), Fleming said, by eschewing rate hikes. Its the same type of mentality that got us into this now.
Fleming noted Council members transferred funds from the citys wastewater reserves into the water budget about five years ago with the hopes of keeping the water fund solvent, a move that ultimately was futile.
Its easy for me to say it, but nobody has been brave enough to fix it and fix it now, Fleming said.
By increasing rates, the city can maintain a decent reserve for the foreseeable future, and allow the Council to look later on about infrastructure work.
Of note, the Councils money-saving maneuvers included skipping the citys annual $200,000 transfer from the water fund to the General Fund in 2019. But those transfers would return in 2020 and beyond.
Peters asked Fleming to consider eliminating water fund transfers to the General Fund, noting $200,000 is about 11 percent of the water funds budget, but only 3 percent of the General Fund. We might find savings in the General Fund much easier than in the water fund, he said.
The city for years has used utility reserves to supplement the General Fund to keep property tax levels low.
The $200,000 is equivalent to about 7 mills, Wells replied, asking if the Council would be more receptive to a $100,000 transfer as a compromise.
Well still run out (of money), but a lot slower, Wells said. We could kick the can down the road.
Ballard noted the employment staffing study, a new purchasing policy under development and the water infrastructure master plan should be in place before the Council acts.
We have a lot of things in the works, Ballard said. He urged the Council to wait until December to act on any water rate hikes, to get a good look at what we need to be doing.
Ford agreed.
Its important to show citizens were looking at where we can cut costs, Ford said.
With Councilmen Aaron Franklin and Chase Martin absent, and the varying responses from the other six Council members, Wells noted there was little consensus on whether a rate hike would be approved at the Councils Sept. 24 meeting.
I suggest we bring (the proposal) in, and if it fails the next meeting, well move forward, Wells said.
AS FOR the city staffing discussion, Fleming brought with him a request for proposal for the Council to consider, if Iola decides to hire an outside firm to handle the analysis.
He acknowledged some of the questions were open-ended, without a lot of detail, in order to promote guidance and suggestions from prospective consultant firms.
Ballard noted the city has 114 full-time employees, or one for every 47 or so Iola citizens.
Its too many, he said. This is why we need to start looking at attrition. This is the first time Ive seen a number associated with this; 114 (employees) makes me more eager to see the study completed soon.
Ive had a lot of city members, employees, contact me who think were on a witch hunt to fire people, Myrick said. Rather, he stressed, the numbers would drop through attrition.
We need to see where we can reduce without anybody sacrificing jobs, Ford agreed. That is not the goal. But as people leave, if we can reduce staffing, thats a considerable amount of money. If we can reduce staffing, one of our easiest and best ways to save cost. Councilman Michael Middleton noted the study may not necessarily be to reduce city staffing, but to make sure our staffing is in the right place.
The consultant would be well advised to look at the citys organizational structure as well, Wells said, and how Iola compares to other similar communities.
COUNCIL members approved, 6-0, a request from Iola Kiwanis to waive rental fees for the Recreation Community Building Oct. 24-27 for Kiwanis annual Boo Bash celebration. The Halloween fun will be from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Oct. 27. The additional three days are to allow the Kiwanians sufficient time for set-up, Iolan Tom Nevans explained.