1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,520
 Okay, it is nine o'clock and we do have a quorum, so call to order the Public Utilities

2
00:00:08,520 --> 00:00:13,580
 Board for the City of Denton on Monday, June 24th, 2024.

3
00:00:13,580 --> 00:00:15,640
 The first item is presentations from the public.

4
00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:16,640
 Has anyone registered?

5
00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:17,640
 No?

6
00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:20,660
 All right, then we'll go into items for individual consideration.

7
00:00:20,660 --> 00:00:25,060
 The first item is approval of the June 10th meeting minutes.

8
00:00:25,060 --> 00:00:27,480
 Were there any changes or corrections?

9
00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:31,120
 Seeing none, do we have a motion to approve?

10
00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:33,040
 So moved.

11
00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:34,040
 Okay.

12
00:00:34,040 --> 00:00:38,040
 Devin and Rob, all in favor say aye.

13
00:00:38,040 --> 00:00:39,040
 Aye.

14
00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:40,040
 Carries.

15
00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:41,040
 Management reports.

16
00:00:41,040 --> 00:00:42,040
 It's Taylor.

17
00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:43,040
 Pretty simple.

18
00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:44,040
 Yes.

19
00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:45,040
 Good morning.

20
00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:48,920
 We have two items for the board this morning.

21
00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:53,920
 On your future agenda items, there's attachment covering that then today you're going to hear

22
00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:58,400
 the proposed budgets for the utilities and then it looks like on your next meeting on

23
00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:03,960
 July 8th, you'll have approval of any utility rate changes, recommendations for water, wastewater,

24
00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:06,360
 drainage, and solid waste budgets.

25
00:01:06,360 --> 00:01:09,120
 Any questions on future agenda items?

26
00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:10,120
 No?

27
00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:11,120
 Okay.

28
00:01:11,120 --> 00:01:13,240
 Next item is new business action items.

29
00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:19,800
 There appears to be one outstanding request and it is for comparison on our experience

30
00:01:19,800 --> 00:01:24,280
 with EV versus combustion engine cars and trucks.

31
00:01:24,280 --> 00:01:25,280
 So that one still looks outstanding.

32
00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:30,040
 I don't know if we've gotten any updates yet, but we can provide you how that's going.

33
00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:32,080
 And that's it.

34
00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:33,080
 All right.

35
00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:35,200
 The next item is concluding items.

36
00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:40,720
 Does any board member wish to have something put on a future agenda or address the public?

37
00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:41,720
 No?

38
00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:42,720
 Okay.

39
00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:46,400
 Then we'll go into the work session.

40
00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:51,280
 Leave a report and hold a discussion and give staff direction on fiscal year '24-'25

41
00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:55,820
 preliminary utility forecast for solid waste water, wastewater, electric, and customer

42
00:01:55,820 --> 00:01:56,820
 service.

43
00:01:56,820 --> 00:01:58,040
 Good morning.

44
00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:00,800
 Good morning.

45
00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:06,360
 Good morning, members of PUB, Chair Matt Hamilton, budget manager for the city.

46
00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:11,440
 Here to present the second in a series of budget presentations for you.

47
00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:18,400
 Today's presentation is going to largely focus on the five-year operating performance and

48
00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:22,480
 five-year capital budgets for each of the utilities.

49
00:02:22,480 --> 00:02:28,100
 I did want to mention that as we go through the financials that I'll walk through, we'll

50
00:02:28,100 --> 00:02:31,440
 talk a little bit about revenue sufficiency.

51
00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:37,880
 And as you'll see, some of the percentages that we have in there, I just wanted to note,

52
00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:42,260
 is representative of the total revenue sufficiency for the fund that's required.

53
00:02:42,260 --> 00:02:49,680
 And so at the next meeting on July 8th, we will bring back some different rate structure

54
00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:53,600
 options in order to meet those revenue sufficiency requirements.

55
00:02:53,600 --> 00:03:02,760
 So it's not specific to any one rate class, residential, commercial fees otherwise.

56
00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:08,000
 So just wanted to note that at the top of the presentation.

57
00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:09,640
 Okay.

58
00:03:09,640 --> 00:03:14,360
 So as I had mentioned, we'll talk a little bit about the budget process overview and

59
00:03:14,360 --> 00:03:20,160
 then get into the preliminary utility budgets for each of the utilities.

60
00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:25,680
 So this was something that we had talked about at the prior PUB meeting.

61
00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:34,240
 So I won't go through all of it, but we are here in June presenting the preliminary utility

62
00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:38,840
 budgets to PUB following the meeting on the 8th.

63
00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:45,200
 We will then provide this information for consideration to counsel.

64
00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:49,240
 They will review it on the 23rd and also at the budget workshop.

65
00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:54,080
 If there's anything that needs to come back to the PUB, any changes, we will bring that

66
00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:56,400
 back to the board.

67
00:03:56,400 --> 00:04:01,360
 And then in August, we'll have our public hearings and it will culminate in the budget

68
00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:05,840
 adoption in September.

69
00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:13,160
 So starting with our solid waste and recycling department, this is an overview of the current

70
00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:19,160
 solid waste organizational chart for fiscal year 2024, our current fiscal year.

71
00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:26,200
 There's a total of 133 budgeted FTEs in the department.

72
00:04:26,200 --> 00:04:34,600
 As we had discussed previously, included in our rate forecasts are a 2%, 2.6% growth in

73
00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:41,900
 residential customers, a 2% growth in commercial front-load, side-load poles, and 2.1% growth

74
00:04:41,900 --> 00:04:44,520
 in landfill customers.

75
00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:48,800
 And the graphic that you see here was something that we had reviewed last time.

76
00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:59,520
 But just to illustrate that solid waste is fairly consistent and our forecast for 2023

77
00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:03,560
 lined up pretty well with the 2023 actuals.

78
00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:06,560
 We anticipate the same for 2024.

79
00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:14,480
 And then the growth projections there are based on the percentages that you see.

80
00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:21,620
 So getting into specific budget request packages, just to explain a little bit, baseline adjustments

81
00:05:21,620 --> 00:05:29,040
 are budgetary increases for expenses that already exist or contracts that already exist.

82
00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:34,640
 Supplemental requests is a request for a new expense or a new service.

83
00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:41,040
 So looking at baseline adjustments, you can see there's seven requests.

84
00:05:41,040 --> 00:05:46,640
 Each of these have to do with an increase in the cost of doing business.

85
00:05:46,640 --> 00:05:56,880
 And then supplemental requests of $121,500 for new software that will go into the vehicles.

86
00:05:56,880 --> 00:06:06,360
 And that is every new software cover.

87
00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:12,120
 The question was about the software for the vehicles.

88
00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:17,920
 Good morning, Brian Burner, Solid Waste Director with the City of Denton.

89
00:06:17,920 --> 00:06:20,980
 It's for a program called SAMSARA.

90
00:06:20,980 --> 00:06:26,920
 It sets upon our existing Rubicon and ties together the routing software, the accountability

91
00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:33,520
 software, our third eye system, basically drops it all into one unit so that instead

92
00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:39,960
 of us, let's say we've had a miss or an alleged miss at a resident.

93
00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:43,560
 Right now we have to go and pull the card and spend an hour going through until we get

94
00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:50,040
 to that house to determine with this new system, not only does it allow us to pull that up

95
00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:56,840
 by the address, by the GeoTab, but it also helps us from a driver accountability standpoint,

96
00:06:56,840 --> 00:07:01,760
 make sure from the NCAP standpoint he's driving the way he needs to, monitors all the exterior

97
00:07:01,760 --> 00:07:07,240
 so in case we get hit we can help determine more reliably who's at fault.

98
00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:09,680
 So it's a risk management software also.

99
00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:15,480
 30,000 of that is originally for the initial installation and that's not going to be a

100
00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:18,480
 reoccurring charge.

101
00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:27,420
 So does that, if I may, does that also include looking at the trash cans or receptacles that

102
00:07:27,420 --> 00:07:30,160
 may need to be replaced?

103
00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:33,600
 Is that something the driver makes a decision at that point, is that what the software would

104
00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:34,600
 be useful for?

105
00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:38,680
 No, our existing software, the Rubicon system, if there's a crack lid, the wheel, something

106
00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:45,180
 that the driver observes, he can actually hit a, there's a button, there's what we

107
00:07:45,180 --> 00:07:51,160
 call an exception report that he can push and it will note that that may need to happen

108
00:07:51,160 --> 00:07:55,060
 in addition to our field auditors that are out there, they're gathering that data.

109
00:07:55,060 --> 00:08:02,240
 But if you have a can that may have a crack, may need to be repaired, the best way to manage

110
00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:05,040
 that is just go ahead and call customer service.

111
00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:10,480
 It gets it directly into the system and we'll have it repaired on the next service day.

112
00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:11,480
 Thank you.

113
00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:12,480
 Thank you.

114
00:08:12,480 --> 00:08:13,480
 Yes sir.

115
00:08:13,480 --> 00:08:20,700
 This seems like a wonderful idea but reasonably expensive so what kind of labor savings do

116
00:08:20,700 --> 00:08:24,900
 you see coming from this or have you calculated those out in any way?

117
00:08:24,900 --> 00:08:29,280
 We've calculated that but we've really looked at it from the risk management standpoint.

118
00:08:29,280 --> 00:08:33,080
 I mean, 131,000, that's one claim.

119
00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:38,480
 We place several claims a year based on alleged incidents and things that we just can't quite

120
00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:42,240
 prove up so we end up paying.

121
00:08:42,240 --> 00:08:45,720
 This really is cost neutral, cost beneficial to us.

122
00:08:45,720 --> 00:08:48,720
 Okay but you haven't calculated that out.

123
00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:56,480
 From a risk management standpoint we've looked at it, again, as I said, 130,000 or 120,000

124
00:08:56,480 --> 00:08:59,080
 is basically one claim potentially.

125
00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:00,520
 We have four or five claims a year.

126
00:09:00,520 --> 00:09:05,260
 What do those claims typically run you a year, the small part?

127
00:09:05,260 --> 00:09:08,160
 I would have to go back and look at that, I don't know off the top of my head what that

128
00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:09,160
 is.

129
00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:11,440
 If this could be one claim and you get half a dozen of them a year, then that's a half

130
00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:12,440
 a million dollars.

131
00:09:12,440 --> 00:09:13,440
 That's half a million dollars.

132
00:09:13,440 --> 00:09:14,440
 Yeah, exactly.

133
00:09:14,440 --> 00:09:15,440
 Okay.

134
00:09:15,440 --> 00:09:16,440
 So it's running in that range?

135
00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:17,440
 Correct.

136
00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:18,440
 Okay, thank you.

137
00:09:18,440 --> 00:09:19,440
 Thank you.

138
00:09:19,440 --> 00:09:20,440
 Brian, thanks for your department's quick response during the storms this year.

139
00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:21,440
 Thank you very much.

140
00:09:21,440 --> 00:09:22,440
 You're most welcome.

141
00:09:22,440 --> 00:09:37,360
 And it goes without saying that really it's the dedication of the employees that we have.

142
00:09:37,360 --> 00:09:42,920
 They were asking questions before we even got in on Monday, what do we need to do, what

143
00:09:42,920 --> 00:09:43,920
 do we need to do?

144
00:09:43,920 --> 00:09:47,560
 And in addition to just our guys out on the streets picking it up, working six days a

145
00:09:47,560 --> 00:09:53,120
 week, 12 hours a day, I want to give shout-outs to Fleet because if they weren't there, you

146
00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:56,240
 know, making sure our trucks were up and running, then we couldn't have done this.

147
00:09:56,240 --> 00:10:00,280
 And also the help we got from Water and Streets Department on Saturdays, we had their dump

148
00:10:00,280 --> 00:10:04,800
 trucks out, we were loading and going and into the day, you know, Friday we basically

149
00:10:04,800 --> 00:10:08,760
 said Operation Push, which is what we call this operation to get our debris management

150
00:10:08,760 --> 00:10:10,000
 taken care of.

151
00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:11,000
 It was over.

152
00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:12,640
 Today we're back in regular business.

153
00:10:12,640 --> 00:10:17,680
 So we're hitting, you know, Monday through Thursday piles, anything overage we're going

154
00:10:17,680 --> 00:10:21,560
 to be charging you for, but again, you have the debris collection is done.

155
00:10:21,560 --> 00:10:24,960
 So again, thanks to our employees for that dedicated service.

156
00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:31,920
 Yeah, I did make contact with you via someone else, of course, and you answered my question

157
00:10:31,920 --> 00:10:38,840
 quickly and the people on a certain street and didn't -- I didn't even tell you what

158
00:10:38,840 --> 00:10:43,440
 street it was on, but they called me and thanked me for getting their trees removed.

159
00:10:43,440 --> 00:10:46,920
 Well, you know -- And I gave you credit is what I'm --

160
00:10:46,920 --> 00:10:47,920
 Well, thank you.

161
00:10:47,920 --> 00:10:52,640
 You know, it's just the patience of our residents and our citizens, you know, it -- you know,

162
00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:56,480
 we just started one in and worked our way slowly slogging through it all.

163
00:10:56,480 --> 00:11:00,600
 But again, you know, working together as a team, you know, the citizens and the community

164
00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:11,320
 and our folks, you know, Denton is a cleaner place this Monday, so thank you.

165
00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:16,880
 Okay.

166
00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:23,560
 So taking a look at solid waste position summary, in fiscal year 2024, the current fiscal year

167
00:11:23,560 --> 00:11:29,720
 had 133 FTEs, as we saw in the organizational chart.

168
00:11:29,720 --> 00:11:40,000
 There are no positions being added for 2025, so we anticipate 133 positions in 2025.

169
00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:44,320
 Taking a look at the solid waste five-year capital plan, the plan includes, for fiscal

170
00:11:44,320 --> 00:11:54,760
 year 2025, $12.9 million, of which 11.1 is anticipated to be debt funded and 1.8 million

171
00:11:54,760 --> 00:11:56,880
 revenue funded.

172
00:11:56,880 --> 00:12:04,960
 So the major projects include cell five and six construction, as well as a little over

173
00:12:04,960 --> 00:12:10,240
 $5 million in annual vehicle replacement.

174
00:12:10,240 --> 00:12:13,900
 Okay.

175
00:12:13,900 --> 00:12:19,840
 So getting into the solid waste fund five-year forecast, for fiscal year 2024, the current

176
00:12:19,840 --> 00:12:29,100
 fiscal year, we had budgeted $39.2 million in revenue, for fiscal year 2025, we are budgeting

177
00:12:29,100 --> 00:12:32,680
 $41.2 million in revenue.

178
00:12:32,680 --> 00:12:38,160
 That increase is due to some of the growth that we're seeing, as well as, as you'll

179
00:12:38,160 --> 00:12:46,280
 see at the bottom, a 1.5% increase that is needed for revenue sufficiency.

180
00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:57,320
 On the expenditure side, 2024, we budgeted $41.3 million, and 2025, we've budgeted $42.2,

181
00:12:57,320 --> 00:13:01,760
 something that I wanted to note on certain lines.

182
00:13:01,760 --> 00:13:09,200
 So within personnel services, we do anticipate a 3% COLA for employees citywide, as well

183
00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:17,720
 as a, up to a 2.5% performance merit that employees would be eligible to receive.

184
00:13:17,720 --> 00:13:24,160
 And so that's primarily what's driving the increase in personnel services.

185
00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:32,400
 In operations, there was a budget increase that we've made to the commercial collection

186
00:13:32,400 --> 00:13:37,520
 business unit that has to do with vehicle maintenance and repair.

187
00:13:37,520 --> 00:13:43,520
 So what we found is that in that specific business unit, that we had under budgeted

188
00:13:43,520 --> 00:13:51,160
 vehicle maintenance in prior years and are increasing that line by $700,000 to bring

189
00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:58,200
 it up to where actual fleet maintenance costs are.

190
00:13:58,200 --> 00:14:06,240
 And then just taking a look at the debt service in 2024, it was at $4.8 million, 2025, we

191
00:14:06,240 --> 00:14:15,280
 anticipate $5.3 million with the recent debt issuance in the summer.

192
00:14:15,280 --> 00:14:23,240
 So with all that, in 2025, the ending fund balance is projected to be $8.6 million.

193
00:14:23,240 --> 00:14:29,360
 At the bottom, you'll see two rows under target reserves.

194
00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:38,800
 The first line is the minimum target reserve level, the second is our targeted maximum

195
00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:39,960
 level.

196
00:14:39,960 --> 00:14:47,360
 And so you'll notice that the $8.6 million does fall above the bounds of the upper limit.

197
00:14:47,360 --> 00:14:56,320
 However, the reason that we anticipate needing additional revenue in the next fiscal year

198
00:14:56,320 --> 00:15:00,200
 is looking out the next four fiscal years.

199
00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:09,600
 And as you'll see, the fund balance, you know, in 2026 declines to be within those target

200
00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:16,360
 limits, 2027 within the limits, 2028 and 2029.

201
00:15:16,360 --> 00:15:25,760
 So another piece of it that we're also cognizant of and have a policy surrounding is this very

202
00:15:25,760 --> 00:15:28,960
 last line, the debt service coverage ratio.

203
00:15:28,960 --> 00:15:40,200
 And this is a ratio that is looked at by rating agencies where our target is one and a half.

204
00:15:40,200 --> 00:15:46,020
 So you know, looking out the five years, we also want to ensure that we are maintaining

205
00:15:46,020 --> 00:15:52,680
 at least a one and a half percent or one and a half times debt service coverage ratio.

206
00:15:52,680 --> 00:15:57,880
 So it's really a balance between where we're keeping the fund balance, where our expenditures

207
00:15:57,880 --> 00:16:04,340
 are and where that debt service coverage ratio is, yes.

208
00:16:04,340 --> 00:16:10,960
 On the vehicle replacement, is that just for the solid waste department vehicle replacement?

209
00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:11,960
 Yes.

210
00:16:11,960 --> 00:16:16,160
 And what would -- give me an example of what kind of replacement that would be.

211
00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:18,440
 Is it pickups, is it trash truck?

212
00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:20,480
 What is the vehicle re-emplacement?

213
00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:30,560
 Could you write some detail?

214
00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:31,560
 Good morning.

215
00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:33,160
 And it would be all of the above.

216
00:16:33,160 --> 00:16:38,780
 You know, we basically have a five-year replacement cycle on most of our rolling stock.

217
00:16:38,780 --> 00:16:42,780
 So you know, and it goes back working with Fleet to determine, you know, amount of repair

218
00:16:42,780 --> 00:16:45,220
 points, cost to maintain, things of that nature.

219
00:16:45,220 --> 00:16:52,560
 So we'll be getting some new automatic side loaders, some new commercial front load trucks,

220
00:16:52,560 --> 00:16:58,000
 as well as some just front line, you know, light and medium duty vehicles to help support

221
00:16:58,000 --> 00:17:02,720
 supervisors, crew leaders, service delivery out in the community.

222
00:17:02,720 --> 00:17:08,520
 And if I may ask, of those, are you going to have -- what's the makeup of those vehicles

223
00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:09,520
 in that?

224
00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:10,520
 Are they going to be gas burners?

225
00:17:10,520 --> 00:17:13,240
 Are they going to be electric or hybrid?

226
00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:14,240
 What's your goal on those?

227
00:17:14,240 --> 00:17:17,120
 These will be conventional fuels, so diesel and gasoline.

228
00:17:17,120 --> 00:17:22,240
 However, you know, we are continuing to look at the potential of alternate-fueled vehicles

229
00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:23,240
 into the fleet.

230
00:17:23,240 --> 00:17:27,520
 You know, right now, the heavy-duty garbage trucks, there really isn't a reliable solution

231
00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:31,160
 for alternative other than compressed natural gas.

232
00:17:31,160 --> 00:17:35,600
 So we'll continue down the road, but we're working closely with Peterbilt and other manufacturers

233
00:17:35,600 --> 00:17:38,000
 to really test vehicles.

234
00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:46,280
 But where the technology is solid and reliable, our, you know, pickup trucks, box trucks,

235
00:17:46,280 --> 00:17:50,760
 things of that nature, we're looking actively at actually incorporating, you know, electric

236
00:17:50,760 --> 00:17:55,200
 vehicles and other alternatively-fueled vehicles in those mechanisms.

237
00:17:55,200 --> 00:18:00,280
 Would you know how many we have in the fleet right now that are the electric?

238
00:18:00,280 --> 00:18:02,280
 At solid waste, I believe we have five.

239
00:18:02,280 --> 00:18:03,520
 Five in solid waste.

240
00:18:03,520 --> 00:18:04,520
 Yes.

241
00:18:04,520 --> 00:18:05,520
 Thank you.

242
00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:06,520
 Thank you.

243
00:18:06,520 --> 00:18:07,520
 One more question.

244
00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:12,040
 On the replacement line, it's one and a half, two million, and then it kind of trickles

245
00:18:12,040 --> 00:18:13,800
 down to 500,000.

246
00:18:13,800 --> 00:18:18,320
 Is that just because those replacements aren't planned yet, or do you expect it to decrease

247
00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:20,320
 in cost?

248
00:18:20,320 --> 00:18:26,080
 Part of it has to do with when we originally acquired the vehicles, and it is a five-year

249
00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:27,080
 replacement.

250
00:18:27,080 --> 00:18:30,480
 So in that five years, you're going to see adjustments up and down.

251
00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:35,920
 I would, you know, this is a long-term forecast, and, you know, anything beyond about three

252
00:18:35,920 --> 00:18:38,840
 or four years, we're speculating.

253
00:18:38,840 --> 00:18:43,160
 So you know, we'll -- look next year, those numbers will be just a slight bit different.

254
00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:44,160
 Okay.

255
00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:47,640
 Yeah, and I was just curious if it was actually a planned trend down, or if it just -- the

256
00:18:47,640 --> 00:18:48,640
 numbers aren't there yet.

257
00:18:48,640 --> 00:18:49,640
 They'll probably be there in a year or two.

258
00:18:49,640 --> 00:18:50,640
 I think it's all of the above.

259
00:18:50,640 --> 00:18:51,640
 Okay.

260
00:18:51,640 --> 00:18:52,640
 Thank you.

261
00:18:52,640 --> 00:18:53,640
 Thank you.

262
00:18:53,640 --> 00:18:54,640
 Appreciate it.

263
00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:58,120
 A little bit of both.

264
00:18:58,120 --> 00:19:02,640
 What is our legal requirement for debt service coverage under the bond covenants?

265
00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:03,640
 Is it 1.25?

266
00:19:03,640 --> 00:19:05,680
 Is that what I remember correctly?

267
00:19:05,680 --> 00:19:06,680
 Yes.

268
00:19:06,680 --> 00:19:07,680
 Okay.

269
00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:08,680
 Yeah.

270
00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:09,680
 All right.

271
00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:10,680
 Okay.

272
00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:11,680
 All right.

273
00:19:11,680 --> 00:19:22,720
 Well, moving on to DME, this is an organizational chart for fiscal year 2024, the current fiscal

274
00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:29,440
 year for DME, and the current FTE count is 187.

275
00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:37,960
 So as we talked about last time, we do anticipate 7.53% growth in retail sales, megawatt hours,

276
00:19:37,960 --> 00:19:41,280
 for known residential and commercial projects.

277
00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:48,520
 The cost of service study, which is ongoing, we anticipate the results and recommendations

278
00:19:48,520 --> 00:19:54,480
 to come later in July, and so we'll bring that back to the board for your consideration.

279
00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:59,460
 But the cost of service study is primarily focused on fixed costs, the facility and usage

280
00:19:59,460 --> 00:20:04,520
 charges, and then we'll also bring back the value of solar steady results and recommendations

281
00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:06,080
 as well.

282
00:20:06,080 --> 00:20:12,280
 In terms of expense projections, and this is true for all the utilities, is an increase

283
00:20:12,280 --> 00:20:20,440
 in personnel costs associated with the cost of living adjustment and the merit adjustment.

284
00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:26,200
 So this is a graphic that you had seen at the previous meeting just illustrating that

285
00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:30,120
 7.53% growth in forecasted retail sales.

286
00:20:30,120 --> 00:20:37,500
 So for 2025, we anticipate 881,000 in residential service megawatt hours and over a million

287
00:20:37,500 --> 00:20:41,960
 in general service.

288
00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:50,720
 So a comment that had come up at the prior meeting was what expenditures make up the

289
00:20:50,720 --> 00:20:56,160
 various rates, and so we wanted to make sure that we provided some information in regard

290
00:20:56,160 --> 00:20:57,320
 to that.

291
00:20:57,320 --> 00:21:03,680
 So as you see here, base rates for DME are made up of personnel services, O&M, the ROI

292
00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:10,040
 and franchise fee costs, debt service, cost of service transfers, and capital outlay,

293
00:21:10,040 --> 00:21:13,680
 which are revenue-funded capital projects.

294
00:21:13,680 --> 00:21:18,000
 So base rates recover the cost of operations and maintenance, and the rates will vary by

295
00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:20,000
 customer class.

296
00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:28,720
 The ECA rate is comprised of purchase power, which excludes deck revenue, deck fuel, deck

297
00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:38,520
 variable O&M expenses, as well as any prior period over/under collection on the ECA.

298
00:21:38,520 --> 00:21:44,680
 And the ECA simply recovers the net energy cost as a pass-through charge to customers,

299
00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:48,120
 and it's the same rate for all customer classes.

300
00:21:48,120 --> 00:21:55,700
 The TCRF, which is the transmission cost recovery fee, is just comprised of transmission costs.

301
00:21:55,700 --> 00:22:06,700
 The transmission costs are determined by the PUCT, and the rates vary by customer class.

302
00:22:06,700 --> 00:22:15,320
 So specific to DME, we are anticipated to see a 14.2% total increase in personnel expenditures,

303
00:22:15,320 --> 00:22:17,080
 including benefits.

304
00:22:17,080 --> 00:22:20,480
 So as I had mentioned, it includes the cost of living and the merit.

305
00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:27,480
 However, DME is also proposing 16 and a half positions, supplemental positions.

306
00:22:27,480 --> 00:22:34,800
 Otherwise, there's not a significant change in their overall O&M expenditures, and debt

307
00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:42,480
 service is estimated to increase a little over 8% in non-deck debt service, which includes

308
00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:48,720
 the $60 million that was issued in the current fiscal year, as well as the recent refunding

309
00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:56,640
 or refinancing on some old bonds that we were able to get some more advantageous interest

310
00:22:56,640 --> 00:23:02,100
 rates of the savings is $1.5 million over the life of those bonds.

311
00:23:02,100 --> 00:23:05,920
 So that's included in that total.

312
00:23:05,920 --> 00:23:09,560
 And there's no change in the deck debt service expense.

313
00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:10,560
 Yeah.

314
00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:11,560
 Yes, I have a quick question.

315
00:23:11,560 --> 00:23:17,680
 So the additional personnel, what categories do they fall into, engineering, linemen?

316
00:23:17,680 --> 00:23:19,160
 I think there's a slide.

317
00:23:19,160 --> 00:23:20,160
 Yep.

318
00:23:20,160 --> 00:23:21,160
 There's a slide coming up.

319
00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:23,300
 So it may be the next one.

320
00:23:23,300 --> 00:23:27,560
 If not, it's in one or two, but -- Thank you.

321
00:23:27,560 --> 00:23:28,560
 Yep.

322
00:23:28,560 --> 00:23:29,560
 Okay.

323
00:23:29,560 --> 00:23:34,080
 So we're making a look at the electric fund five-year forecast.

324
00:23:34,080 --> 00:23:43,680
 In 2024, we budgeted $290 million in revenues and $308 million in expenses.

325
00:23:43,680 --> 00:23:55,080
 2025, you can see that the amount that we're budgeting for revenues has increased to $392

326
00:23:55,080 --> 00:24:03,400
 million, and on the expenditure side, $396 million in expenditures.

327
00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:11,800
 So we still anticipate a use of reserve -- excuse me -- of $3.8 million.

328
00:24:11,800 --> 00:24:18,440
 Something to make a note of, the amount that we budgeted in 2024 for purchase power was

329
00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:28,720
 considerably lower than what we actually ended up anticipating to expend, and as we've talked

330
00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:33,200
 about in prior meetings, there may be the need for a budget amendment in the current

331
00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:40,440
 fiscal year to address that, and so you'll see that 2024 was $116 million in purchase

332
00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:50,480
 power, 2025 is $181 million, which aligns much closer to the actuals of 2023 and the

333
00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:51,480
 prior fiscal year.

334
00:24:51,480 --> 00:24:56,920
 So I just wanted to note that, otherwise, the major changes, as I had noted, was just

335
00:24:56,920 --> 00:25:03,720
 the increase in personnel due to the 16.5 FTEs that are being proposed, and then also

336
00:25:03,720 --> 00:25:06,320
 an increase in the non-debt service.

337
00:25:06,320 --> 00:25:15,760
 In 2024, it was $47.1 million, and we anticipate it to be $51 million in 2025.

338
00:25:15,760 --> 00:25:21,600
 So taking a look at the ending fund balance, we anticipate that DME will have an ending

339
00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:32,040
 fund balance of about $112 million next year, which will necessitate an anticipated additional

340
00:25:32,040 --> 00:25:36,480
 revenue need of 1.5%.

341
00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:43,480
 We did finance, as had been brought to the board earlier this year, $31.5 million in

342
00:25:43,480 --> 00:25:50,760
 purchase power expense, which you'll see in the 2024 purchase power securitization line

343
00:25:50,760 --> 00:26:00,080
 here, where the $31.5 million has increased the expenditures over the next five years,

344
00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:03,240
 the financing period, by $7.1 million.

345
00:26:03,240 --> 00:26:12,760
 And so, in total, DME's fund balance will be below the targeted minimum for the next

346
00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:13,980
 several years.

347
00:26:13,980 --> 00:26:19,440
 The policy does allow us to be below the minimum, so long as a plan is in place to bring it

348
00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:31,000
 above the minimum within five years, which is illustrated here.

349
00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:40,640
 So taking a look at DME's budget request packages, baseline adjustments, the first four baselines

350
00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:48,520
 listed there are related to the deck, and then a fifth request, which is an increase

351
00:26:48,520 --> 00:26:53,360
 to the outside meter reading contract for $50,000.

352
00:26:53,360 --> 00:27:00,640
 In terms of supplemental requests, as I had mentioned, personnel requests of 16.5 FTEs,

353
00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:08,920
 which totals a little over $2.3 million, including benefits, $222,000 for equipment and supplies

354
00:27:08,920 --> 00:27:17,240
 associated with those FTEs, and $315,000 for a GIS cloud management service.

355
00:27:17,240 --> 00:27:32,120
 So all in total, baselines and supplementals, a budgetary increase of $3,721,948.

356
00:27:32,120 --> 00:27:37,000
 So this brings us to the slide that I think will address the prior question.

357
00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:41,720
 Oh, actually, it's one more, sorry.

358
00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:50,620
 So this is a summary of their current positions, and so you'll see in fiscal year 2024, 187,000,

359
00:27:50,620 --> 00:27:56,920
 and then in 2025, preliminary, the total is 200.5 FTEs.

360
00:27:56,920 --> 00:28:04,820
 You'll notice that that number is four FTE short, and the reason is because in electric

361
00:28:04,820 --> 00:28:13,360
 system operations, we anticipate moving four DME dispatchers from electric system operations

362
00:28:13,360 --> 00:28:20,400
 to the new 311 call center.

363
00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:25,440
 So this is the slide that I was hoping to get to.

364
00:28:25,440 --> 00:28:33,000
 So this provides an overview of all the position requests for DME, and so what you'll see

365
00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:39,640
 is that there are a number of positions, but they are throughout the organization and in

366
00:28:39,640 --> 00:28:46,320
 multiple business divisions, and so I won't read all of them, but if you have any questions

367
00:28:46,320 --> 00:28:50,960
 on any of these, we'd be happy to answer any questions.

368
00:28:50,960 --> 00:28:51,960
 Yeah.

369
00:28:51,960 --> 00:28:56,240
 Are these new hire projections, or are these people coming up through the ranks as it were?

370
00:28:56,240 --> 00:28:58,760
 These would be new positions.

371
00:28:58,760 --> 00:29:05,160
 So that new position could be filled by someone internally or someone externally, but it is

372
00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:07,620
 a newly budgeted position.

373
00:29:07,620 --> 00:29:13,480
 And how do you, historically, how do you find that to be a higher percentage of internal

374
00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:15,640
 versus coming from outside?

375
00:29:15,640 --> 00:29:16,640
 Yeah.

376
00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:25,720
 Terry, I'll ask Terry, specific to DME, if internal or external.

377
00:29:25,720 --> 00:29:26,720
 Good morning.

378
00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:28,900
 I'm Terry Conell, the Assistant General Manager.

379
00:29:28,900 --> 00:29:40,040
 So we have, in this budget, we're requesting for a new crew for our electric system operations

380
00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:41,400
 and construction.

381
00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:47,900
 Those generally will be, like the senior journeyman-level folks and the supervisor, will most likely

382
00:29:47,900 --> 00:29:50,000
 be internal hires.

383
00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:59,400
 That be replaced, then, kind of through the waterfall of people moving up with new hires.

384
00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:02,640
 We've got three or four positions in the Energy Management Office.

385
00:30:02,640 --> 00:30:05,680
 Those will be new hires from outside.

386
00:30:05,680 --> 00:30:12,300
 Some of our tech services, tech operations, will most likely be from outside as well.

387
00:30:12,300 --> 00:30:16,440
 So most of these positions, I would guess, would be new hires from outside.

388
00:30:16,440 --> 00:30:17,440
 Okay.

389
00:30:17,440 --> 00:30:18,440
 Thank you.

390
00:30:18,440 --> 00:30:21,200
 Go ahead, Lee.

391
00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:25,680
 I'm considering the growth of our system and added new customers coming online over the

392
00:30:25,680 --> 00:30:26,680
 next few years.

393
00:30:26,680 --> 00:30:29,600
 Are we hiring enough linemen?

394
00:30:29,600 --> 00:30:35,560
 Well, I think the answer to that is we're hiring what we believe is the correct number.

395
00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:36,560
 And you're right.

396
00:30:36,560 --> 00:30:38,040
 We're trying to keep up with the growth.

397
00:30:38,040 --> 00:30:45,520
 If you look at just residential growth, over the last five years, we've added, I would

398
00:30:45,520 --> 00:30:49,840
 guess, over 10,000 customers.

399
00:30:49,840 --> 00:30:53,280
 We're back with this staffing level that we're suggesting here.

400
00:30:53,280 --> 00:30:57,160
 We're back to the staffing level we were at six years ago.

401
00:30:57,160 --> 00:31:02,760
 So we actually moved down 12 positions from six years ago, and now we're trying to get

402
00:31:02,760 --> 00:31:04,280
 back up to that level.

403
00:31:04,280 --> 00:31:10,280
 And what's most interesting is that our revenues are almost doubling.

404
00:31:10,280 --> 00:31:16,080
 So we're going from about a $200 million a year business to a $400 million a year business.

405
00:31:16,080 --> 00:31:19,920
 So we're experiencing a lot of growth.

406
00:31:19,920 --> 00:31:21,960
 And we need people.

407
00:31:21,960 --> 00:31:26,800
 We need very talented people to make sure that we can operate cost effectively.

408
00:31:26,800 --> 00:31:33,560
 Well, my question kind of is you've got a lot of people in the kind of operations, administration,

409
00:31:33,560 --> 00:31:34,560
 support areas.

410
00:31:34,560 --> 00:31:41,000
 And I'm just curious if this is enough linemen, growth in linemen, to support all of this

411
00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:46,040
 added growth we have, you know, with the conversion of our mains and adding coal and hunter ranch.

412
00:31:46,040 --> 00:31:48,760
 It's a whole lot of load, a whole lot of new lines.

413
00:31:48,760 --> 00:31:50,960
 I'm just curious if this is --

414
00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:51,960
 Yeah.

415
00:31:51,960 --> 00:31:56,560
 So these positions will be augmented, as we currently do with outside services.

416
00:31:56,560 --> 00:32:02,680
 So we have an outside contractor that does transmission-level work for us.

417
00:32:02,680 --> 00:32:11,720
 We have arrangements with service organizations, can help us with the distribution, construction,

418
00:32:11,720 --> 00:32:14,040
 storm response, and the like.

419
00:32:14,040 --> 00:32:20,880
 But this is what we believe we need to meet the expectations of our customers.

420
00:32:20,880 --> 00:32:28,240
 You know, all of our linemen and our field operations people have to be able to jump

421
00:32:28,240 --> 00:32:32,060
 to meet the customer's expectations in the middle of the night.

422
00:32:32,060 --> 00:32:38,120
 And so we think with an extra crew, this four-man crew, that we'll continue to be able to meet

423
00:32:38,120 --> 00:32:39,120
 those expectations.

424
00:32:39,120 --> 00:32:40,120
 Thank you.

425
00:32:40,120 --> 00:32:41,120
 Thank you, Terry.

426
00:32:41,120 --> 00:32:42,120
 Okay.

427
00:32:42,120 --> 00:32:58,600
 This is the second slide of the FTE list, if there's any questions on these specific

428
00:32:58,600 --> 00:33:02,440
 positions.

429
00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:06,360
 Okay.

430
00:33:06,360 --> 00:33:13,680
 Sorry, I'll let us finish the interviewers.

431
00:33:13,680 --> 00:33:14,680
 Oh, okay.

432
00:33:14,680 --> 00:33:23,240
 So taking a look at the DME five-year capital plan for fiscal year 2025, this is broken

433
00:33:23,240 --> 00:33:25,360
 up into two parts.

434
00:33:25,360 --> 00:33:32,920
 The first slide here is related to distribution, and the next slide is related to transmission.

435
00:33:32,920 --> 00:33:42,240
 So for distribution, the 2025 total is $60.2 million, and the five-year estimated total

436
00:33:42,240 --> 00:33:47,160
 is $315 million.

437
00:33:47,160 --> 00:33:52,160
 Transmission projects, fiscal year 2025 totals $14.7 million.

438
00:33:52,160 --> 00:33:56,840
 So between distribution and transmission, the total is $75 million.

439
00:33:56,840 --> 00:34:06,300
 Of the $75 million, $67.7 million is anticipated to be debt funded, $2.1 million is anticipated

440
00:34:06,300 --> 00:34:13,960
 to be revenue funded, and we have $5.1 million in anticipated cost participation.

441
00:34:13,960 --> 00:34:20,520
 Okay, any questions on DME?

442
00:34:20,520 --> 00:34:24,560
 Yes, thank you.

443
00:34:24,560 --> 00:34:31,400
 So if we return to the slide early on regarding structure of the three parts of the rate,

444
00:34:31,400 --> 00:34:36,360
 I just had one question for clarification.

445
00:34:36,360 --> 00:34:44,360
 So deck revenue is excluded from the ECA, where is that in the rate?

446
00:34:44,360 --> 00:34:51,000
 Is that part of -- is that applied as a credit to base rate funds?

447
00:34:51,000 --> 00:34:56,080
 I'll have Terry come up.

448
00:34:56,080 --> 00:35:04,040
 Yeah, on the income statement, the deck revenues show up as electric revenue.

449
00:35:04,040 --> 00:35:08,980
 The reason why they're not included in the ECA rate is because the wholesale deck revenues

450
00:35:08,980 --> 00:35:15,560
 are not subject to the ROI and franchise fee that we pay to the city.

451
00:35:15,560 --> 00:35:23,760
 And just on this slide, the ECA rate now, ECA rate and the TCRF rate are also burdened

452
00:35:23,760 --> 00:35:27,000
 by that general fund transfer amount as well.

453
00:35:27,000 --> 00:35:35,000
 So the -- shown in the base rates, it's actually -- we do collect the GFT on the base rate,

454
00:35:35,000 --> 00:35:42,400
 but we individually collect the GFT, general fund transfer on the ECA and the TCRF components

455
00:35:42,400 --> 00:35:44,440
 of the rate as well.

456
00:35:44,440 --> 00:35:48,720
 And so then deck revenue would kind of come in as like a kind of cost of service transfer

457
00:35:48,720 --> 00:35:49,720
 from this slide or --

458
00:35:49,720 --> 00:35:57,500
 No, it doesn't actually make up -- it's not something that we include in the rate because

459
00:35:57,500 --> 00:36:01,560
 it shows up as retail revenue.

460
00:36:01,560 --> 00:36:04,760
 It shows up as revenue on the income statement.

461
00:36:04,760 --> 00:36:12,480
 So it is -- when you look at the fund balance itself, it's a credit to the fund balance.

462
00:36:12,480 --> 00:36:15,880
 So it helps us to keep the rates in check.

463
00:36:15,880 --> 00:36:17,520
 Does that make sense to you?

464
00:36:17,520 --> 00:36:18,520
 Yeah.

465
00:36:18,520 --> 00:36:25,360
 So it doesn't -- so just as a credit to the fund, which then just -- but that in effect

466
00:36:25,360 --> 00:36:26,880
 lowers the base rate.

467
00:36:26,880 --> 00:36:32,480
 Well, it lowers the ECA requirement because it is a revenue that's collected for energy

468
00:36:32,480 --> 00:36:33,480
 that's purchased.

469
00:36:33,480 --> 00:36:38,080
 Okay, so it's kind of outside the ECA but still part of that power purchase.

470
00:36:38,080 --> 00:36:39,080
 Right.

471
00:36:39,080 --> 00:36:40,080
 Okay.

472
00:36:40,080 --> 00:36:41,080
 All right.

473
00:36:41,080 --> 00:36:44,080
 Yeah, thank you.

474
00:36:44,080 --> 00:36:47,120
 Would that be baked into non-rate revenues in the P&O?

475
00:36:47,120 --> 00:36:48,920
 No, it is not.

476
00:36:48,920 --> 00:36:52,720
 It is actually in the retail rate revenue.

477
00:36:52,720 --> 00:36:55,280
 What kind of things are in non-rate revenues?

478
00:36:55,280 --> 00:37:05,520
 It's fees, like connection fees, it's interest we gain on our fund balance.

479
00:37:05,520 --> 00:37:11,120
 It's just the non-billed rates that we give directly to every customer.

480
00:37:11,120 --> 00:37:12,120
 Oh.

481
00:37:12,120 --> 00:37:14,920
 Aaron, you need to put your microphone on.

482
00:37:14,920 --> 00:37:18,000
 I'm probably just not close enough.

483
00:37:18,000 --> 00:37:19,000
 Okay.

484
00:37:19,000 --> 00:37:23,200
 Just got to have a closer -- okay.

485
00:37:23,200 --> 00:37:24,200
 Other questions?

486
00:37:24,200 --> 00:37:25,200
 Thank you.

487
00:37:25,200 --> 00:37:26,200
 Okay.

488
00:37:26,200 --> 00:37:31,200
 Thank you, Teri.

489
00:37:31,200 --> 00:37:33,240
 Okay.

490
00:37:33,240 --> 00:37:39,680
 Okay, moving on to customer service.

491
00:37:39,680 --> 00:37:44,960
 So this is an organizational chart of the customer service fund, and something that

492
00:37:44,960 --> 00:37:50,880
 you'll notice that is different than in prior years is that in the current fiscal year,

493
00:37:50,880 --> 00:37:59,120
 the customer service fund now reports up through DME, and so there's two divisions within the

494
00:37:59,120 --> 00:38:06,520
 customer service fund, one being the newly formed 311 operations, as well as the existing

495
00:38:06,520 --> 00:38:09,200
 customer service group.

496
00:38:09,200 --> 00:38:17,360
 And so in total, customer service for fiscal year 2024 has 62 and a half FTEs.

497
00:38:17,360 --> 00:38:22,560
 And just talking a little bit about the customer -- or the 311 call center, because I know

498
00:38:22,560 --> 00:38:26,680
 that we have some new members on the board.

499
00:38:26,680 --> 00:38:35,000
 The city, prior to implementing 311, had a very decentralized contact structure.

500
00:38:35,000 --> 00:38:41,360
 So citizens and residents, when they reached out to the city with a concern, would be routed

501
00:38:41,360 --> 00:38:44,880
 to the department, who may be routed to another department.

502
00:38:44,880 --> 00:38:52,020
 The 311 call center really centralizes all of that communication, and so all inquiries

503
00:38:52,020 --> 00:38:58,600
 will come into 311, and then 311 will be able to communicate that to the appropriate department

504
00:38:58,600 --> 00:39:04,840
 and follow up with the resident, essentially providing a single point of contact for all

505
00:39:04,840 --> 00:39:11,720
 their needs, regardless of what the inquiry or the concern may be.

506
00:39:11,720 --> 00:39:16,720
 So this is a position summary for customer service, as I had noted.

507
00:39:16,720 --> 00:39:20,240
 In the current fiscal year, 62 and a half FTEs.

508
00:39:20,240 --> 00:39:27,680
 The preliminary for 2025 is 65 and a half, and so as you'll see in that 311 call center

509
00:39:27,680 --> 00:39:33,820
 line for 2025, it increases from 6 to 10.

510
00:39:33,820 --> 00:39:40,340
 Those are the four DME dispatchers that are coming over from electric operations.

511
00:39:40,340 --> 00:39:44,600
 And then customer service.

512
00:39:44,600 --> 00:39:54,720
 We moved six positions from customer service over to 311, so they decreased by six.

513
00:39:54,720 --> 00:39:59,920
 And then you'll also notice the decrease from 62 and a half to 55 and a half.

514
00:39:59,920 --> 00:40:07,000
 There was one more position, a director level position, that was reclassified to another

515
00:40:07,000 --> 00:40:13,920
 area of the city with the movement of 311 and customer service now being under DME,

516
00:40:13,920 --> 00:40:22,780
 who had appropriate managers and directors in place to provide that level of supervision.

517
00:40:22,780 --> 00:40:29,760
 So in total, 2025, we anticipate 65 and a half FTEs, with the only position request

518
00:40:29,760 --> 00:40:35,840
 being the movement of the four positions from DME to customer service.

519
00:40:35,840 --> 00:40:42,320
 So taking a look at the baseline and supplemental requests, baseline requests include increases

520
00:40:42,320 --> 00:40:48,000
 for postage, as well as two contract price increases.

521
00:40:48,000 --> 00:40:57,040
 And as far as supplementals, a request for software and build out specific to 311, as

522
00:40:57,040 --> 00:41:03,640
 well as two reviews, one to be done on the credit and collection process, and the other,

523
00:41:03,640 --> 00:41:13,440
 an operational review as 311 is implemented and integrated with our existing customer

524
00:41:13,440 --> 00:41:15,680
 service department.

525
00:41:15,680 --> 00:41:22,980
 So total requests are 230,200.

526
00:41:22,980 --> 00:41:27,920
 Any questions on these request packages?

527
00:41:27,920 --> 00:41:28,920
 Yeah.

528
00:41:28,920 --> 00:41:33,320
 To offset the postage increase, is there any way that we could do electronic statements

529
00:41:33,320 --> 00:41:35,720
 so people can opt out of receiving paper?

530
00:41:35,720 --> 00:41:37,040
 Good question.

531
00:41:37,040 --> 00:41:39,960
 I'll ask Krista to speak to that.

532
00:41:39,960 --> 00:41:40,960
 Here comes Krista.

533
00:41:40,960 --> 00:41:41,960
 I don't get paper.

534
00:41:41,960 --> 00:41:42,960
 I don't get paper.

535
00:41:42,960 --> 00:41:50,760
 Well, I get paper, I don't want it.

536
00:41:50,760 --> 00:41:54,400
 Madam Chair, board members, Krista Foster, customer service.

537
00:41:54,400 --> 00:41:59,120
 Customer service is actually in the middle of a push that we're about to start marketing

538
00:41:59,120 --> 00:42:02,560
 more to get people moving to electronic enrollment.

539
00:42:02,560 --> 00:42:11,400
 Currently, we are looking at opportunities for trying to make paper opt-in versus opt-out.

540
00:42:11,400 --> 00:42:17,660
 We are running into a couple of hitches with that, just with the vendors that we're using

541
00:42:17,660 --> 00:42:22,720
 for our bill print and for our payment portal.

542
00:42:22,720 --> 00:42:29,400
 So I'm not 100% that I can guarantee you we could go to opt-in for paper, but we are going

543
00:42:29,400 --> 00:42:33,100
 to be making a very large push over the next year.

544
00:42:33,100 --> 00:42:36,160
 We actually have several pretty neat things that I think you guys will like seeing coming

545
00:42:36,160 --> 00:42:40,600
 through.

546
00:42:40,600 --> 00:42:52,000
 Okay, so taking a look at the customer service fund financials.

547
00:42:52,000 --> 00:42:57,800
 In 2024, our budgeted revenue was $9.8 million.

548
00:42:57,800 --> 00:43:02,580
 Customer service is an internal service fund that is funded by the other funds within the

549
00:43:02,580 --> 00:43:05,720
 city who utilize customer service.

550
00:43:05,720 --> 00:43:12,160
 For the most part, that's primarily made up of the utilities for utility billing and customer

551
00:43:12,160 --> 00:43:15,120
 contact.

552
00:43:15,120 --> 00:43:20,760
 On the expense side, $9.8 million in expenditures.

553
00:43:20,760 --> 00:43:25,920
 For 2025, we do anticipate the revenue to increase to $11.4.

554
00:43:25,920 --> 00:43:33,680
 Again, those are transfers from internal departments and corresponding $11.4 million in expenditures.

555
00:43:33,680 --> 00:43:42,960
 You can see one of the primary drivers is personnel increases from $5.1 million to $6.5

556
00:43:42,960 --> 00:43:44,400
 million.

557
00:43:44,400 --> 00:43:51,640
 Customer service has quite a few employees, call center employees, and the 3% COLA and

558
00:43:51,640 --> 00:43:59,280
 2.5% merit are a big part of that increase in personnel services.

559
00:43:59,280 --> 00:44:07,320
 Otherwise, not a whole lot of change year over year with the customer service fund.

560
00:44:07,320 --> 00:44:14,800
 Okay, any other questions on customer service before we move on?

561
00:44:14,800 --> 00:44:19,600
 Really quickly, I'm noticing the transfer in from electrical is going up.

562
00:44:19,600 --> 00:44:25,160
 I'm assuming that's because the four DME dispatchers now moving over.

563
00:44:25,160 --> 00:44:28,880
 Those services are now handled by customer service versus DME.

564
00:44:28,880 --> 00:44:35,120
 But then water is also increasing by $600,000 in expected transfers.

565
00:44:35,120 --> 00:44:41,760
 Are we seeing an increase in water requests?

566
00:44:41,760 --> 00:44:54,200
 The way that we allocate out internal service funds is we determine the percentage of work

567
00:44:54,200 --> 00:44:59,840
 that that internal service fund is providing to those other departments.

568
00:44:59,840 --> 00:45:07,680
 So it's really more of a proportional increase as customer service or another internal service

569
00:45:07,680 --> 00:45:17,000
 expenses increase, whether or not water or electric has more billions, that proportional

570
00:45:17,000 --> 00:45:20,360
 share is still going to increase.

571
00:45:20,360 --> 00:45:27,680
 So, yeah, it's simply driven by an increase in customer services expenses that drives

572
00:45:27,680 --> 00:45:29,800
 those transfers.

573
00:45:29,800 --> 00:45:34,400
 The reason water might be receiving a higher proportion, a little bit higher proportion

574
00:45:34,400 --> 00:45:39,880
 compared to the other services is just that you have a formula that splits that cost.

575
00:45:39,880 --> 00:45:40,880
 Yes.

576
00:45:40,880 --> 00:45:41,880
 Yeah.

577
00:45:41,880 --> 00:45:43,800
 So we look at the number of billings.

578
00:45:43,800 --> 00:45:50,880
 We look at the total amount that's being received, the number of customer accounts,

579
00:45:50,880 --> 00:45:56,640
 and that all plays into how much each utility contributes to the customer service fund.

580
00:45:56,640 --> 00:45:57,640
 Yep.

581
00:45:57,640 --> 00:46:05,440
 And so does that also, fair to say, within the wastewater, that same type of mentality

582
00:46:05,440 --> 00:46:07,320
 or ratio is being used?

583
00:46:07,320 --> 00:46:08,320
 Yes.

584
00:46:08,320 --> 00:46:09,320
 Yeah.

585
00:46:09,320 --> 00:46:16,920
 Can you provide me any kind of insight on usage adoption of things like engaged debt

586
00:46:16,920 --> 00:46:21,720
 and any other thing we can use to be extremely efficient with how we deal with our customers,

587
00:46:21,720 --> 00:46:25,280
 but also keep a high level of service?

588
00:46:25,280 --> 00:46:27,120
 Is that stuff that's being used?

589
00:46:27,120 --> 00:46:32,360
 What kind of efforts do we do to try to increase usage, but keep customer satisfaction high,

590
00:46:32,360 --> 00:46:33,360
 things like that?

591
00:46:33,360 --> 00:46:37,840
 That's a good question, Chris.

592
00:46:37,840 --> 00:46:42,280
 Again, Krista Foster, customer service.

593
00:46:42,280 --> 00:46:48,740
 So customer service has a number of self-service options that we promote on our website.

594
00:46:48,740 --> 00:46:51,480
 We promote them on our phone lines.

595
00:46:51,480 --> 00:46:53,400
 We have our representatives also promote them.

596
00:46:53,400 --> 00:47:02,120
 I believe that over the last 12 to 18 months, we have put out about 10 customer-facing self-service

597
00:47:02,120 --> 00:47:11,760
 items that now receive roughly 15,000 contacts a year.

598
00:47:11,760 --> 00:47:14,160
 We're working on trying to drive those even more.

599
00:47:14,160 --> 00:47:20,380
 We are in the process of launching a self-service residential service application.

600
00:47:20,380 --> 00:47:24,040
 We already have one out for the commercial services so that they don't have to call in,

601
00:47:24,040 --> 00:47:26,640
 but they can just fill that out online.

602
00:47:26,640 --> 00:47:30,760
 We're in the final stages of developing one for the residential services as well.

603
00:47:30,760 --> 00:47:36,460
 We're also in the process of making our pay agreements, an online process that customers

604
00:47:36,460 --> 00:47:41,280
 can just go online 24 hours a day and request that as opposed to having to call in.

605
00:47:41,280 --> 00:47:46,280
 So we are very cognizant of wanting to drive those calls to self-service.

606
00:47:46,280 --> 00:47:50,280
 We also know that our customers prefer self-service, a lot of them.

607
00:47:50,280 --> 00:47:56,560
 So yes, we are definitely making efforts.

608
00:47:56,560 --> 00:47:59,440
 How do we gauge customer satisfaction with things like that?

609
00:47:59,440 --> 00:48:04,900
 So the way that we gauge customer satisfaction formally in customer service, if you're talking

610
00:48:04,900 --> 00:48:10,940
 with a representative, is we automatically drop that call into a three-question survey.

611
00:48:10,940 --> 00:48:15,880
 We ask the customer how satisfied were they with the support that they received, then

612
00:48:15,880 --> 00:48:21,240
 was this the first time that they've contacted us regarding this instance of an issue, and

613
00:48:21,240 --> 00:48:22,980
 was that issue resolved?

614
00:48:22,980 --> 00:48:29,640
 So that allows us to get a customer-reported satisfaction level as well as first call resolution

615
00:48:29,640 --> 00:48:30,640
 rate.

616
00:48:30,640 --> 00:48:34,720
 Because the way I see it, I can think that I resolved your call, but if you don't think

617
00:48:34,720 --> 00:48:38,600
 I resolved your call, yours is the important opinion there.

618
00:48:38,600 --> 00:48:40,760
 So that is what we run.

619
00:48:40,760 --> 00:48:47,600
 And we are running over 94 percent very satisfied customers and over 95 percent first call resolution

620
00:48:47,600 --> 00:48:48,600
 customer reported.

621
00:48:48,600 --> 00:48:49,600
 Thank you.

622
00:48:49,600 --> 00:48:50,600
 Thank you.

623
00:48:50,600 --> 00:48:51,600
 Anything else?

624
00:48:51,600 --> 00:48:52,600
 All right.

625
00:48:52,600 --> 00:48:53,600
 Thank you.

626
00:48:53,600 --> 00:48:54,600
 Okay.

627
00:48:54,600 --> 00:49:06,400
 Turning now to water, wastewater, and drainage.

628
00:49:06,400 --> 00:49:10,160
 So taking a look at the water and wastewater organizational chart.

629
00:49:10,160 --> 00:49:13,820
 This is just water and wastewater.

630
00:49:13,820 --> 00:49:19,080
 It does exclude drainage and watershed protection in this chart here.

631
00:49:19,080 --> 00:49:24,320
 So for the water and wastewater utility, the total FTE count in the current fiscal year

632
00:49:24,320 --> 00:49:29,200
 is 185.

633
00:49:29,200 --> 00:49:34,440
 For next fiscal year, we do anticipate 3.4 percent growth in residential customers.

634
00:49:34,440 --> 00:49:37,320
 This is related to water.

635
00:49:37,320 --> 00:49:40,720
 And 5.3 percent growth in commercial customers.

636
00:49:40,720 --> 00:49:47,400
 Additional factors that we are making consideration of is the 100 coal development, as well as

637
00:49:47,400 --> 00:49:50,920
 growth in the muds that we're seeing.

638
00:49:50,920 --> 00:49:57,800
 So in terms of revenue projections, as we had talked about previously, a 3 percent increase

639
00:49:57,800 --> 00:50:01,680
 in rate revenues based on growth.

640
00:50:01,680 --> 00:50:08,400
 Our forecast does include some reduction for water conservation implementation impacts.

641
00:50:08,400 --> 00:50:15,400
 So in future years, our anticipation is that residents will start to conserve more and

642
00:50:15,400 --> 00:50:23,040
 therefore consumption would be more reduced than otherwise.

643
00:50:23,040 --> 00:50:30,120
 And then also, if we have put together an application for the Texas Water Development

644
00:50:30,120 --> 00:50:37,760
 Board funding for the Ray Roberts Water Treatment Plant expansion project, which certainly has

645
00:50:37,760 --> 00:50:43,320
 some favorable rates associated with it.

646
00:50:43,320 --> 00:50:49,880
 And so if that's something that we are successful with, we'll bring it back to the board with

647
00:50:49,880 --> 00:50:51,900
 the rates associated with that.

648
00:50:51,900 --> 00:50:56,680
 On the expense projection side, again, just an increase in personnel costs associated

649
00:50:56,680 --> 00:51:00,600
 with the coal and the merit.

650
00:51:00,600 --> 00:51:01,600
 Thank you.

651
00:51:01,600 --> 00:51:06,360
 On the growth projections with the 100 coal development, now the mud growth, is that in

652
00:51:06,360 --> 00:51:09,820
 correlation with the 100 coal, or is that separate?

653
00:51:09,820 --> 00:51:12,320
 And how many others are there?

654
00:51:12,320 --> 00:51:14,120
 That's separate.

655
00:51:14,120 --> 00:51:15,120
 And I don't know.

656
00:51:15,120 --> 00:51:16,120
 Are you projecting?

657
00:51:16,120 --> 00:51:17,120
 Yes.

658
00:51:17,120 --> 00:51:20,600
 I mean, how many are you projecting that we're looking at, then?

659
00:51:20,600 --> 00:51:22,240
 We currently have a handful.

660
00:51:22,240 --> 00:51:30,280
 I don't know, Kyle, I'm not certain if Kyle knows on the mud projection, we can come back

661
00:51:30,280 --> 00:51:31,280
 to that.

662
00:51:31,280 --> 00:51:37,400
 I'm just curious as to, because it seems to ebb and flow with the popularity, yet it stays

663
00:51:37,400 --> 00:51:39,680
 constant in that it's eternal.

664
00:51:39,680 --> 00:51:40,680
 Right.

665
00:51:40,680 --> 00:51:44,040
 Okay, thank you.

666
00:51:44,040 --> 00:51:51,400
 Okay, so this was a graphic that we had provided last time, and I know the board has seen prior

667
00:51:51,400 --> 00:51:52,400
 to that.

668
00:51:52,400 --> 00:51:58,320
 But just wanted to show it again, because we did have a question about the red growth.

669
00:51:58,320 --> 00:52:05,360
 And so what this graphic is intended to show is the blue is the maximum demand, current

670
00:52:05,360 --> 00:52:14,720
 maximum demand that we saw as of August 28, 2023, which was 41 million gallons a day.

671
00:52:14,720 --> 00:52:24,600
 And the red is the anticipated demand in megagallons, or million gallons per day, you know, based

672
00:52:24,600 --> 00:52:26,800
 on growth.

673
00:52:26,800 --> 00:52:33,200
 So what you'll see is, you know, that the red does exceed the black dotted line, and

674
00:52:33,200 --> 00:52:36,920
 the black dotted line is our current capacity.

675
00:52:36,920 --> 00:52:44,160
 And so I just wanted to bring this back really to, you know, note that this is reflective

676
00:52:44,160 --> 00:52:53,640
 of maximum capacity, as well as the plan for the expansion is to build the footprints of

677
00:52:53,640 --> 00:53:02,760
 the building and expand, do the expansion to 20 million gallons a day, add that capacity,

678
00:53:02,760 --> 00:53:11,160
 but outfit the building in a way that we're able to add capacity as we're seeing that

679
00:53:11,160 --> 00:53:12,320
 demand increase.

680
00:53:12,320 --> 00:53:20,000
 So it's not just a fixed expansion up front, and then if the growth doesn't come, you know,

681
00:53:20,000 --> 00:53:26,720
 we're stuck with a plant that is, you know, has capacity far more than we need.

682
00:53:26,720 --> 00:53:33,080
 We're able to put in the infrastructure and the machinery as that growth actually occurs

683
00:53:33,080 --> 00:53:38,060
 to be able to then meet the daily demand.

684
00:53:38,060 --> 00:53:43,160
 Did you just say if the growth doesn't come?

685
00:53:43,160 --> 00:53:48,440
 As projected in this chart, yes, let me clear for that, the growth will come.

686
00:53:48,440 --> 00:53:50,400
 Build it and they will come.

687
00:53:50,400 --> 00:53:55,680
 And as the growth does come and we project that, what is the triggering timeframe to

688
00:53:55,680 --> 00:54:00,700
 start the expansion and what is your expectation on the completion before we have to trigger

689
00:54:00,700 --> 00:54:01,700
 and go again?

690
00:54:01,700 --> 00:54:02,700
 Yeah.

691
00:54:02,700 --> 00:54:06,880
 So I believe for the current expansion, I think it's three, three or four years.

692
00:54:06,880 --> 00:54:15,040
 I'll ask Kyle to come up and talk about the timeline.

693
00:54:15,040 --> 00:54:16,040
 Good morning.

694
00:54:16,040 --> 00:54:18,220
 Kyle Pettigo, planning and engineering division manager.

695
00:54:18,220 --> 00:54:26,080
 So currently the Ray Roberts expansion is out for, it's being advertised, the CMAR project

696
00:54:26,080 --> 00:54:33,580
 for the base project, which is the initial 20MGD expansion and like Matt said, installation

697
00:54:33,580 --> 00:54:40,400
 of the underground infrastructure basins so that we can modularly increase that.

698
00:54:40,400 --> 00:54:46,920
 As far as the future triggers, it will be monitoring flow and maintaining those projection

699
00:54:46,920 --> 00:54:53,940
 calculations as we go through our next water master planning exercise.

700
00:54:53,940 --> 00:55:02,080
 And do you have just a guesstimate as to the construction timeframes who were not caught?

701
00:55:02,080 --> 00:55:06,680
 The construction timeframe, since we would be doing most of the infrastructure up front

702
00:55:06,680 --> 00:55:12,400
 with the initial expansion, most of the underground infrastructure, which is more time consuming

703
00:55:12,400 --> 00:55:19,920
 to install, the construction timeframe to install new equipment between design, procurement

704
00:55:19,920 --> 00:55:24,680
 and installation is right around one to two years instead of three to five years.

705
00:55:24,680 --> 00:55:29,880
 And do you go through a building process, building inspection process like the rest

706
00:55:29,880 --> 00:55:30,880
 of us?

707
00:55:30,880 --> 00:55:31,880
 Yes.

708
00:55:31,880 --> 00:55:33,360
 And it's just a year and a half?

709
00:55:33,360 --> 00:55:34,360
 Yes.

710
00:55:34,360 --> 00:55:43,640
 Okay, thank you.

711
00:55:43,640 --> 00:55:50,800
 Okay so taking a look at the Water Fund five-year forecast in 2024, we had budgeted $63.1 million

712
00:55:50,800 --> 00:55:57,640
 in revenue and budgeted $58.7 in expenditures.

713
00:55:57,640 --> 00:56:09,000
 Something that you may recall from a prior slide last time was that the summer of 2023

714
00:56:09,000 --> 00:56:17,200
 was very hot in July, August and September and so the water consumption was notably higher.

715
00:56:17,200 --> 00:56:27,960
 And so you'll see in the 2023 actuals for revenue there, $48.3 million and in 2025,

716
00:56:27,960 --> 00:56:31,840
 we're at $49.5.

717
00:56:31,840 --> 00:56:37,880
 And so not too much of an increase there between actuals in 2023 and 2025, but that's largely

718
00:56:37,880 --> 00:56:45,440
 due to a greater than anticipated consumption amount in 2023.

719
00:56:45,440 --> 00:56:53,600
 And so when we budget, we're budgeting on a normal year, so not a wet or a dry year.

720
00:56:53,600 --> 00:56:56,760
 So I just wanted to note that.

721
00:56:56,760 --> 00:57:06,120
 For 2025, we anticipate $55.4 million in total revenue and $54.8 million on the expenditure

722
00:57:06,120 --> 00:57:07,120
 side.

723
00:57:07,120 --> 00:57:12,440
 Personnel services, as you've seen with the other utilities, is increasing.

724
00:57:12,440 --> 00:57:18,800
 We're about a million dollars, as well as the debt service transfers are increasing

725
00:57:18,800 --> 00:57:26,000
 from $11.8 million in 2024 to $14.5 million in 2025.

726
00:57:26,000 --> 00:57:34,560
 So this five-year forecast does contemplate a 3% increase in revenue or revenue sufficiency

727
00:57:34,560 --> 00:57:37,040
 requirement for 2025.

728
00:57:37,040 --> 00:57:43,680
 And as I mentioned, we'll come back with some rate structures that will meet that 3%

729
00:57:43,680 --> 00:57:46,760
 need on July 8th.

730
00:57:46,760 --> 00:57:52,020
 So what you'll notice here, as was the case with solid waste, is that the ending fund

731
00:57:52,020 --> 00:57:58,700
 balance that's projected in 2025 is $32.8 million, which is above the upper target of

732
00:57:58,700 --> 00:58:01,500
 $27 million.

733
00:58:01,500 --> 00:58:05,600
 But something that you'll also notice is that the debt service coverage ratio is below

734
00:58:05,600 --> 00:58:07,620
 one and a half times.

735
00:58:07,620 --> 00:58:14,680
 And so, again, this is something that we're trying to balance between the debt service

736
00:58:14,680 --> 00:58:18,420
 coverage ratio and the fund balance targets.

737
00:58:18,420 --> 00:58:27,400
 But as you'll notice, the fund balance does start to fall within the targeted upper and

738
00:58:27,400 --> 00:58:32,280
 lower bounds in years two through five.

739
00:58:32,280 --> 00:58:39,600
 And so that's part of the reason why we feel that that 3% increase in revenue is needed

740
00:58:39,600 --> 00:58:45,640
 in 2025 and in anticipation of those next years.

741
00:58:45,640 --> 00:58:52,360
 If there were not to be an increase in revenue in 2025, it would simply have to be a greater

742
00:58:52,360 --> 00:58:58,680
 increase in revenue in a future year to meet the requirements.

743
00:58:58,680 --> 00:59:04,600
 In 2026, is there any concern with how low that is, doesn't that drop below our legal

744
00:59:04,600 --> 00:59:07,880
 obligations on the debt service coverage?

745
00:59:07,880 --> 00:59:09,000
 That's a great question.

746
00:59:09,000 --> 00:59:17,800
 So the debt service coverage ratio, although we're showing it by fund, by the bond covenants,

747
00:59:17,800 --> 00:59:25,100
 the utility system is comprised of the electric, water, and wastewater system, and it's a combined

748
00:59:25,100 --> 00:59:30,200
 amount that is looked at for the covenants.

749
00:59:30,200 --> 00:59:41,920
 So our policy dictates that each fund should maintain that one and a half or at least one

750
00:59:41,920 --> 00:59:45,880
 and a quarter percent debt service coverage ratio.

751
00:59:45,880 --> 00:59:52,560
 But it's viewed holistically as the utility system.

752
00:59:52,560 --> 00:59:59,360
 So certainly for the water fund, this is something that we're keeping an eye on, and that we

753
00:59:59,360 --> 01:00:03,600
 do want to increase that debt service coverage ratio.

754
01:00:03,600 --> 01:00:10,540
 Okay, so taking a look at the water budget request packages for 2025, there's a number

755
01:00:10,540 --> 01:00:12,000
 of baseline adjustments.

756
01:00:12,000 --> 01:00:18,180
 The most notable is the increase in chemical costs of $1.7 million.

757
01:00:18,180 --> 01:00:26,940
 The remaining amounts are relatively small contract and cost of service increases.

758
01:00:26,940 --> 01:00:36,960
 And then for supplementals, water has requested nine FTEs for 2025 additional FTEs for a total

759
01:00:36,960 --> 01:00:42,140
 cost of $957,431 including benefits.

760
01:00:42,140 --> 01:00:51,500
 So total requests, total $3,870,086.

761
01:00:51,500 --> 01:00:53,620
 What is the employee recruitment?

762
01:00:53,620 --> 01:01:04,000
 Is that to recruit those nine or -- or do you have a bunch of retirements coming up

763
01:01:04,000 --> 01:01:05,000
 too?

764
01:01:05,000 --> 01:01:12,120
 Well, there is retirement, but we also -- the employee recruitment is to recruit its external

765
01:01:12,120 --> 01:01:20,340
 recruitment to recruit new talent for those nine positions, several of which the water

766
01:01:20,340 --> 01:01:30,160
 operations manager, we're looking to bring in new people.

767
01:01:30,160 --> 01:01:34,920
 Are you using headhunter types for these higher up positions?

768
01:01:34,920 --> 01:01:35,920
 Not that I believe.

769
01:01:35,920 --> 01:01:45,760
 I think it's more advertising, more advertising, just getting a wider spread for the drop request.

770
01:01:45,760 --> 01:01:47,800
 Okay.

771
01:01:47,800 --> 01:01:52,280
 On the sludge recycling, that's an expense.

772
01:01:52,280 --> 01:01:59,560
 Is there an additional expense going to the landfill or is that just a total turnkey cost?

773
01:01:59,560 --> 01:02:06,400
 I believe that's turnkey, that's -- and a portion of it is due to the expansion at Pecan

774
01:02:06,400 --> 01:02:07,400
 Creek.

775
01:02:07,400 --> 01:02:11,840
 I'm just curious as to, there's that cost for the recycling to the landfill, but then

776
01:02:11,840 --> 01:02:15,640
 is there a charge from the landfill for taking it or is that all tied in?

777
01:02:15,640 --> 01:02:16,640
 I believe that's all tied in.

778
01:02:16,640 --> 01:02:17,640
 Thank you.

779
01:02:17,640 --> 01:02:18,640
 Other questions?

780
01:02:18,640 --> 01:02:19,640
 Thank you, Kyle.

781
01:02:19,640 --> 01:02:20,640
 Okay.

782
01:02:20,640 --> 01:02:36,080
 So, taking a look at the water position summary, in 2024, we budgeted 110 positions.

783
01:02:36,080 --> 01:02:44,560
 And in 2025, the preliminary number is 119 with the nine requested positions.

784
01:02:44,560 --> 01:02:52,200
 So, these nine requested positions, seven of them are water operators, three at Ray

785
01:02:52,200 --> 01:02:55,880
 Roberts and four at Lake Lewisville.

786
01:02:55,880 --> 01:03:02,880
 Something in a review of the organization that was found is that at the plants, we had

787
01:03:02,880 --> 01:03:12,000
 very few individuals who were working overnight, and it presented a safety issue at the plants

788
01:03:12,000 --> 01:03:15,240
 because the plants run 24 hours a day.

789
01:03:15,240 --> 01:03:23,280
 And so, these seven positions address both the safety risk that is currently present

790
01:03:23,280 --> 01:03:32,040
 as well as, you know, bringing the level of personnel up to an industry standard.

791
01:03:32,040 --> 01:03:40,360
 The apprentice is just in addition to get someone in to learn, and then a proposed assistant

792
01:03:40,360 --> 01:03:42,200
 general manager.

793
01:03:42,200 --> 01:03:50,760
 Currently, water is one of the few utilities that does not have an assistant director or

794
01:03:50,760 --> 01:03:52,640
 assistant general manager.

795
01:03:52,640 --> 01:04:00,240
 And so, that's to provide support to the organization.

796
01:04:00,240 --> 01:04:11,920
 So, looking at the Water 5-Year Capital Plan for fiscal year 2025, it totals $130.4 million.

797
01:04:11,920 --> 01:04:19,480
 You'll notice that the primary driver of that are the plant improvements of $78.6 million.

798
01:04:19,480 --> 01:04:29,400
 Of the $130.4 million, $129 million of it, so nearly all, is anticipated debt funded.

799
01:04:29,400 --> 01:04:34,840
 And although we wrote debt funding, this is where we're really looking at those external

800
01:04:34,840 --> 01:04:43,920
 programs, either through the state or federal programs, to obtain the best financing terms

801
01:04:43,920 --> 01:04:48,400
 that we can possibly get in order to do those plant improvements.

802
01:04:48,400 --> 01:04:55,160
 So, it may not end up being a bond issuance, it may end up being a loan program through

803
01:04:55,160 --> 01:04:57,160
 the state or the federal government.

804
01:04:57,160 --> 01:04:59,520
 Question?

805
01:04:59,520 --> 01:05:00,520
 Yeah.

806
01:05:00,520 --> 01:05:01,520
 Yeah.

807
01:05:01,520 --> 01:05:02,520
 Thank you.

808
01:05:02,520 --> 01:05:04,920
 Please answer to your microphone, please.

809
01:05:04,920 --> 01:05:06,440
 Thank you.

810
01:05:06,440 --> 01:05:07,440
 Yeah.

811
01:05:07,440 --> 01:05:08,440
 Miscellaneous.

812
01:05:08,440 --> 01:05:13,480
 Seems to be one of your largest categories.

813
01:05:13,480 --> 01:05:14,480
 Yes.

814
01:05:14,480 --> 01:05:16,640
 So, what's miscellaneous?

815
01:05:16,640 --> 01:05:17,640
 Yeah.

816
01:05:17,640 --> 01:05:18,640
 What's it this year?

817
01:05:18,640 --> 01:05:24,040
 I don't, I don't, Kyle, do you know offhand?

818
01:05:24,040 --> 01:05:27,080
 If not, I can bring that back to you.

819
01:05:27,080 --> 01:05:28,080
 Yeah.

820
01:05:28,080 --> 01:05:32,440
 That's just, I mean, I know, I've said this before, is it a big number under something

821
01:05:32,440 --> 01:05:35,400
 that says miscellaneous is?

822
01:05:35,400 --> 01:05:41,180
 We can provide, that's the itemized breakdown with the submitted capital improvement plan.

823
01:05:41,180 --> 01:05:44,160
 What do you think that covers under miscellaneous?

824
01:05:44,160 --> 01:05:48,200
 Miscellaneous are any of the items in there that don't fit under the other categories

825
01:05:48,200 --> 01:05:57,040
 necessarily, or bridge the gap between categories, so for either a sludge improvement project

826
01:05:57,040 --> 01:06:03,640
 that could fall under there, not our lift stations, but some of the other conveyance

827
01:06:03,640 --> 01:06:09,120
 projects are under there as well.

828
01:06:09,120 --> 01:06:13,040
 I would like to recommend you show a breakdown of that when you come back.

829
01:06:13,040 --> 01:06:14,040
 Yeah.

830
01:06:14,040 --> 01:06:15,040
 That'd be interesting.

831
01:06:15,040 --> 01:06:16,040
 That's a good point.

832
01:06:16,040 --> 01:06:19,000
 I mean, that's a pretty big number for just open miscellaneous.

833
01:06:19,000 --> 01:06:24,720
 I'd be curious as you break that down, are there some that you would consider historical

834
01:06:24,720 --> 01:06:29,760
 type costs you know that they are going to be coming from your previous experience that

835
01:06:29,760 --> 01:06:33,480
 would fall under miscellaneous versus given in its own line item?

836
01:06:33,480 --> 01:06:35,040
 Does that make sense?

837
01:06:35,040 --> 01:06:36,040
 It doesn't make sense.

838
01:06:36,040 --> 01:06:37,680
 We can provide that with the breakdown.

839
01:06:37,680 --> 01:06:38,680
 Thank you.

840
01:06:38,680 --> 01:06:39,680
 Thanks.

841
01:06:39,680 --> 01:06:47,120
 It goes past us anyway.

842
01:06:47,120 --> 01:06:57,800
 Okay, so turning now to the Wastewater Fund, we anticipate 3.4 percent growth in residential

843
01:06:57,800 --> 01:07:04,360
 customers in 2025 and 4.1 percent growth in commercial customers.

844
01:07:04,360 --> 01:07:11,080
 Revenue projections, 3.7 percent increase in rate revenues just based on growth, and

845
01:07:11,080 --> 01:07:17,360
 that's not an increase in rates, that's just an increase in the revenue associated with

846
01:07:17,360 --> 01:07:18,360
 growth.

847
01:07:18,360 --> 01:07:23,400
 But we do anticipate that potential rate increases are going to be needed in order to meet the

848
01:07:23,400 --> 01:07:28,000
 debt service coverage ratio and policy targets going forward.

849
01:07:28,000 --> 01:07:35,360
 And again, on the expense projection side, personnel increases due to the COLA and the

850
01:07:35,360 --> 01:07:36,360
 merit.

851
01:07:36,360 --> 01:07:44,520
 So taking a look at the Wastewater Fund, in 2024 we budgeted $38.2 million in revenue

852
01:07:44,520 --> 01:07:50,360
 and total expenditures of $39.9 million with a use of reserve of $1.6 million.

853
01:07:50,360 --> 01:07:59,360
 In 2025 we anticipate $39.6 million in total revenues and $40.4 million in total expenditures

854
01:07:59,360 --> 01:08:04,200
 with a use of reserve of $740,000.

855
01:08:04,200 --> 01:08:13,080
 And as was noted, personnel services increasing from $6.5 million to $7.3 million, and then

856
01:08:13,080 --> 01:08:24,600
 debt service transfers increasing from $8.7 million to $10.8 million.

857
01:08:24,600 --> 01:08:29,880
 So taking a look at the fund balance, at the end of 2025 we anticipate a fund balance of

858
01:08:29,880 --> 01:08:34,960
 $14.4 million, which does fall within the target reserve.

859
01:08:34,960 --> 01:08:43,280
 However, that does include an 11 percent increase in the revenue sufficiency requirement.

860
01:08:43,280 --> 01:08:48,840
 And so this was something that was known last year that we had brought forward and discussed

861
01:08:48,840 --> 01:08:53,240
 with you in terms of what future years may look like.

862
01:08:53,240 --> 01:09:02,240
 And we'll again come back on July 8th with some options to meet that revenue requirement.

863
01:09:02,240 --> 01:09:07,520
 So taking a look at the budgetary requests for wastewater baseline adjustments, there's

864
01:09:07,520 --> 01:09:14,920
 just two, an increase in cybersecurity consulting and an increase in chemicals again.

865
01:09:14,920 --> 01:09:19,180
 And then one request for an FTE.

866
01:09:19,180 --> 01:09:27,200
 So the total baseline and supplemental requests totaling $916,369.

867
01:09:27,200 --> 01:09:32,440
 Any questions?

868
01:09:32,440 --> 01:09:44,140
 So taking a look at the wastewater position summary, 2024 budget, we budgeted at 101 positions.

869
01:09:44,140 --> 01:09:46,840
 This does include drainage and watershed.

870
01:09:46,840 --> 01:09:55,980
 And for 2025 preliminary, we're looking at 102 with the one wastewater addition.

871
01:09:55,980 --> 01:10:02,840
 The wastewater addition is a water reclamation technician that depending on experience would

872
01:10:02,840 --> 01:10:09,620
 be classified as one through four.

873
01:10:09,620 --> 01:10:15,900
 So taking a look at the wastewater five-year capital plan for 2025, the total capital plan

874
01:10:15,900 --> 01:10:24,540
 is $100.4 million, which is primarily driven by the replacement of lines and lift station

875
01:10:24,540 --> 01:10:32,620
 improvements.

876
01:10:32,620 --> 01:10:33,620
 Could you go back?

877
01:10:33,620 --> 01:10:34,620
 Yep.

878
01:10:34,620 --> 01:10:37,620
 $3 million in vehicles.

879
01:10:37,620 --> 01:10:42,220
 Yes, those are, yeah, vehicle replacements.

880
01:10:42,220 --> 01:10:52,700
 Okay, drainage.

881
01:10:52,700 --> 01:11:00,180
 So drainage, as you know, is part of the wastewater fund, but is a separate division that receives

882
01:11:00,180 --> 01:11:03,260
 separate drainage fee revenues.

883
01:11:03,260 --> 01:11:08,300
 And so drainage really has two components within it.

884
01:11:08,300 --> 01:11:13,740
 One is watershed protection, and watershed protection reports up to the Director of Environmental

885
01:11:13,740 --> 01:11:16,620
 Services.

886
01:11:16,620 --> 01:11:22,020
 Watershed protection currently has nine FTEs.

887
01:11:22,020 --> 01:11:29,300
 And then drainage currently has 17 FTEs and reports to the Director of Streets.

888
01:11:29,300 --> 01:11:37,660
 So between watershed and drainage, the current organizational chart includes 26 FTEs.

889
01:11:37,660 --> 01:11:43,620
 Taking a look at the drainage division five-year forecast, there's not a whole lot of change

890
01:11:43,620 --> 01:11:44,620
 from prior year.

891
01:11:44,620 --> 01:11:52,300
 We do anticipate a small increase in personnel services, but otherwise it's relatively flat

892
01:11:52,300 --> 01:12:03,340
 with the exception of the $130,000 in baseline adjustments that you'll see on the next slide.

893
01:12:03,340 --> 01:12:06,940
 So these are the proposed baseline adjustments for drainage.

894
01:12:06,940 --> 01:12:12,420
 Each of these are increases to the cost of existing expenditures or contracts within

895
01:12:12,420 --> 01:12:19,100
 the drainage fund, totaling $130,552.

896
01:12:19,100 --> 01:12:22,220
 Questions?

897
01:12:22,220 --> 01:12:26,660
 Any questions?

898
01:12:26,660 --> 01:12:29,220
 No.

899
01:12:29,220 --> 01:12:31,580
 Okay.

900
01:12:31,580 --> 01:12:37,360
 So as I had mentioned earlier, we do intend on bringing back proposed rate structures

901
01:12:37,360 --> 01:12:39,060
 for each of the utilities.

902
01:12:39,060 --> 01:12:47,100
 There's no anticipated change in drainage fees, but we do anticipate bringing forward

903
01:12:47,100 --> 01:12:52,320
 rate structures for electric water, wastewater, and solid waste.

904
01:12:52,320 --> 01:12:57,800
 And wanted to provide just a history, I know that the Board has seen this before, of where

905
01:12:57,800 --> 01:13:01,880
 rates have been over the last five or six years.

906
01:13:01,880 --> 01:13:12,900
 So between 2019 and 2021, we did do a number of rate reductions, and rates have not increased

907
01:13:12,900 --> 01:13:18,340
 until the current fiscal year in which we did a mid-year rate adjustment for DME, and

908
01:13:18,340 --> 01:13:22,380
 we had an 11% rate adjustment for wastewater.

909
01:13:22,380 --> 01:13:30,660
 So the solid waste and water funds, in particular, have not seen an increase for a number of

910
01:13:30,660 --> 01:13:39,220
 years despite where we've seen some pretty large increases in the cost of doing business

911
01:13:39,220 --> 01:13:42,980
 and the cost of personnel over this timeframe.

912
01:13:42,980 --> 01:13:48,980
 So just wanted to provide this as a summary, but we'll circle back to it on July 8th.

913
01:13:48,980 --> 01:13:49,980
 Yes?

914
01:13:49,980 --> 01:13:57,660
 So just a question on the wastewater, are we looking at an additional 11% increase?

915
01:13:57,660 --> 01:13:59,780
 We're looking at an additional-

916
01:13:59,780 --> 01:14:00,780
 As this is showing?

917
01:14:00,780 --> 01:14:01,780
 That's what I'm-

918
01:14:01,780 --> 01:14:02,780
 Yes, correct.

919
01:14:02,780 --> 01:14:03,780
 Yes.

920
01:14:03,780 --> 01:14:05,100
 And next year?

921
01:14:05,100 --> 01:14:07,260
 Right, in total revenue.

922
01:14:07,260 --> 01:14:14,580
 So what we're looking at is how to structure that.

923
01:14:14,580 --> 01:14:26,500
 Is it residential, commercial, industrial, fees, in order to meet that revenue sufficiency?

924
01:14:26,500 --> 01:14:27,500
 That's fine.

925
01:14:27,500 --> 01:14:32,260
 I've just- the 11% caught me again for the second year in a row, 11% increase.

926
01:14:32,260 --> 01:14:33,260
 Yes.

927
01:14:33,260 --> 01:14:34,260
 Yes.

928
01:14:34,260 --> 01:14:35,260
 Yep.

929
01:14:35,260 --> 01:14:36,260
 I look forward to that conversation.

930
01:14:36,260 --> 01:14:37,260
 Yeah.

931
01:14:37,260 --> 01:14:38,260
 Yeah.

932
01:14:38,260 --> 01:14:40,380
 And that was something, just to note, that we did bring forward last year.

933
01:14:40,380 --> 01:14:48,280
 It was known that this fund would need additional revenues going into the next couple of years

934
01:14:48,280 --> 01:14:54,520
 with the growth that we're seeing, with the increases in personnel costs and debt service.

935
01:14:54,520 --> 01:14:55,520
 So-

936
01:14:55,520 --> 01:14:56,520
 Yeah.

937
01:14:56,520 --> 01:14:57,520
 Yeah.

938
01:14:57,520 --> 01:15:06,220
 And I know we've already done this, we've gone over it, but it just reminds me of what,

939
01:15:06,220 --> 01:15:12,020
 in the past, it seemed like we would- water and wastewater went together as a pair, and

940
01:15:12,020 --> 01:15:17,420
 then if you had an increase in one, you had an increase in both.

941
01:15:17,420 --> 01:15:18,420
 Any-

942
01:15:18,420 --> 01:15:19,420
 Pretty level increase, too.

943
01:15:19,420 --> 01:15:20,420
 Yeah.

944
01:15:20,420 --> 01:15:24,260
 It was like we'd do 8%, 9%, or 9%, 8%, and I realized some of it was making the budget

945
01:15:24,260 --> 01:15:25,260
 work.

946
01:15:25,260 --> 01:15:26,260
 Right.

947
01:15:26,260 --> 01:15:30,260
 Do we have any insight into why we don't- why that's not happening anymore?

948
01:15:30,260 --> 01:15:34,500
 I mean, is it just we're realizing the actual cost of our wastewater?

949
01:15:34,500 --> 01:15:38,740
 I mean, we're getting a better idea, whereas it used to just be a huge estimate of what

950
01:15:38,740 --> 01:15:40,900
 it was going to cost us to run the place.

951
01:15:40,900 --> 01:15:41,900
 Yeah.

952
01:15:41,900 --> 01:15:42,900
 I think it's a couple different things.

953
01:15:42,900 --> 01:15:53,220
 I mean, I think, you know, one is potential differences in, you know, the cost of- in

954
01:15:53,220 --> 01:15:56,780
 the cost of O&M, so personnel.

955
01:15:56,780 --> 01:16:03,140
 As you saw in previous slides, the cost of chemicals for one, you know, fund is different

956
01:16:03,140 --> 01:16:06,460
 than the cost of chemical increases in another.

957
01:16:06,460 --> 01:16:11,100
 I also think that some of it is due to the infrastructure needs associated with each of

958
01:16:11,100 --> 01:16:12,100
 the funds.

959
01:16:12,100 --> 01:16:19,700
 The water is in a better position currently, you know, from an infrastructure perspective

960
01:16:19,700 --> 01:16:26,980
 than wastewater, where there is more need currently than there is on the water side.

961
01:16:26,980 --> 01:16:27,980
 So-

962
01:16:27,980 --> 01:16:31,700
 So that debt service is what's reflected there mostly?

963
01:16:31,700 --> 01:16:37,140
 Yes, quite a bit of it is driven by these large infrastructure projects.

964
01:16:37,140 --> 01:16:38,140
 Okay.

965
01:16:38,140 --> 01:16:39,140
 Yep.

966
01:16:39,140 --> 01:16:40,140
 All right.

967
01:16:40,140 --> 01:16:41,140
 Thanks.

968
01:16:41,140 --> 01:16:42,140
 Thanks.

969
01:16:42,140 --> 01:16:43,140
 Where in our-

970
01:16:43,140 --> 01:16:44,140
 Oh, sorry.

971
01:16:44,140 --> 01:16:50,060
 Where in our various income statements do we identify uncollectible or otherwise walked

972
01:16:50,060 --> 01:16:57,380
 away from revenue that we build, and does that come back in a future analysis, as well

973
01:16:57,380 --> 01:17:03,140
 as trends on 30-day past due all the way through when we're walking away from this stuff?

974
01:17:03,140 --> 01:17:04,140
 Yeah.

975
01:17:04,140 --> 01:17:07,180
 So we do budget for bad debt expense, and it is included.

976
01:17:07,180 --> 01:17:11,020
 I don't know offhand exactly in which line.

977
01:17:11,020 --> 01:17:14,500
 It's within the expenditure budget.

978
01:17:14,500 --> 01:17:21,820
 And so it has been, I know after we reviewed it this year, relatively steady.

979
01:17:21,820 --> 01:17:29,100
 We're not seeing an increase in write-offs for bad debt.

980
01:17:29,100 --> 01:17:30,100
 Does that help?

981
01:17:30,100 --> 01:17:31,100
 Yeah.

982
01:17:31,100 --> 01:17:38,380
 It's interesting what direction that's going, and what percentage we're losing, so to speak.

983
01:17:38,380 --> 01:17:43,180
 We're typically pretty low on the low end of bad debts.

984
01:17:43,180 --> 01:17:44,180
 Yes.

985
01:17:44,180 --> 01:17:45,180
 Like 1%.

986
01:17:45,180 --> 01:17:46,180
 Yeah.

987
01:17:46,180 --> 01:17:47,180
 Okay.

988
01:17:47,180 --> 01:17:48,180
 It is very low.

989
01:17:48,180 --> 01:17:49,180
 Perfect.

990
01:17:49,180 --> 01:17:50,180
 Thanks.

991
01:17:50,180 --> 01:17:56,680
 I think Krista would like to speak to that.

992
01:17:56,680 --> 01:17:59,020
 Krista Foster, customer service.

993
01:17:59,020 --> 01:18:04,100
 Customer service does track our bad debt, and we actually keep both the gross and the

994
01:18:04,100 --> 01:18:05,740
 net bad debt tracked.

995
01:18:05,740 --> 01:18:10,100
 So as we're receiving some of those funds back in, we kind of keep them going.

996
01:18:10,100 --> 01:18:16,220
 I want to say that we run less than a 0.25% of all of our revenues.

997
01:18:16,220 --> 01:18:18,720
 So we monitor those numbers very closely.

998
01:18:18,720 --> 01:18:22,860
 If I go back and find that that number is off by very much, then I will let you know.

999
01:18:22,860 --> 01:18:25,540
 But yes, it is something that we monitor and track.

1000
01:18:25,540 --> 01:18:28,580
 And we look at our age debt on a monthly basis.

1001
01:18:28,580 --> 01:18:33,340
 We recently did some enhancements to that process so that typically with the billing

1002
01:18:33,340 --> 01:18:36,620
 system you're going to get that in three different intervals, right?

1003
01:18:36,620 --> 01:18:41,380
 So we've actually increased that, does some custom reporting, so that we're looking at

1004
01:18:41,380 --> 01:18:44,720
 it at every 30 days through six months old.

1005
01:18:44,720 --> 01:18:49,980
 So we get to see those breakdowns and see residential versus commercial the whole bit.

1006
01:18:49,980 --> 01:18:51,440
 Thank you.

1007
01:18:51,440 --> 01:18:52,440
 Anything else?

1008
01:18:52,440 --> 01:18:53,440
 Excellent question.

1009
01:18:53,440 --> 01:18:54,440
 Thank you.

1010
01:18:54,440 --> 01:18:55,440
 Okay.

1011
01:18:55,440 --> 01:19:06,020
 So talking a little bit about next steps, on July 8th, as I had mentioned, we'll come

1012
01:19:06,020 --> 01:19:12,520
 back to you with rate structures for each of the utilities.

1013
01:19:12,520 --> 01:19:19,900
 And then on July 23rd, we will provide counsel with a preliminary overview of the utility

1014
01:19:19,900 --> 01:19:20,900
 budgets and rates.

1015
01:19:20,900 --> 01:19:25,620
 On August 10th, we have a budget workshop with the city council, followed by public

1016
01:19:25,620 --> 01:19:28,260
 hearings and budget adoption.

1017
01:19:28,260 --> 01:19:35,660
 There may be some items that are brought back to you in July and August, such as the electric

1018
01:19:35,660 --> 01:19:44,100
 cost of service study that will be added in to this calendar as well.

1019
01:19:44,100 --> 01:19:48,940
 With that, are there any additional questions we might be able to answer?

1020
01:19:48,940 --> 01:19:49,940
 Yes.

1021
01:19:49,940 --> 01:19:50,940
 I have one.

1022
01:19:50,940 --> 01:19:51,940
 Yeah.

1023
01:19:51,940 --> 01:19:54,700
 The budget workshop for city council, is that an open or closed meeting?

1024
01:19:54,700 --> 01:19:56,660
 It's a public...

1025
01:19:56,660 --> 01:19:57,660
 It's an open meeting.

1026
01:19:57,660 --> 01:20:01,140
 It'll be open to the public if you want to attend.

1027
01:20:01,140 --> 01:20:06,300
 I would be curious about that, because this is an awful lot of data to absorb.

1028
01:20:06,300 --> 01:20:10,860
 And I wonder if at some point in the future, our public utility board might want to have

1029
01:20:10,860 --> 01:20:16,820
 a workshop rather than just presentation of the budget.

1030
01:20:16,820 --> 01:20:20,860
 I'm assuming the council's going to have the exact same presentation.

1031
01:20:20,860 --> 01:20:23,420
 Yeah, for the utilities.

1032
01:20:23,420 --> 01:20:27,980
 The workshop will also encompass the other departments within the city.

1033
01:20:27,980 --> 01:20:31,900
 The general fund, the internal service funds, yeah.

1034
01:20:31,900 --> 01:20:32,900
 Thank you.

1035
01:20:32,900 --> 01:20:33,900
 Everything.

1036
01:20:33,900 --> 01:20:34,900
 Further questions?

1037
01:20:34,900 --> 01:20:41,980
 I was just going to add in Christine Taylor, assistant city manager.

1038
01:20:41,980 --> 01:20:46,500
 I took note of a couple outstanding questions, so standard protocol will do a follow-up memo

1039
01:20:46,500 --> 01:20:51,260
 that will accompany your backup for your next budget on July 8th.

1040
01:20:51,260 --> 01:20:52,260
 Thank you.

1041
01:20:52,260 --> 01:21:00,060
 All right, seeing there's no other questions, it is 10-21.

1042
01:21:00,060 --> 01:21:01,220
 Do we have a motion to adjourn?

1043
01:21:01,220 --> 01:21:02,220
 Motion to adjourn.

1044
01:21:02,220 --> 01:21:03,780
 Okay, your turn.