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UM, LIKE TWO,[Water and Wastewater Commission Budget Committee Meeting]
UH, ON MAY 24TH, I'D LIKE TO CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER AND BE AT THAT.THERE'S NO CITIZEN COMMUNICATION.
UM, LET'S START WITH A WINTER STORM UPDATE.
UM, WELL, I'LL START, AND THIS WILL BE, UH, A BRIEF UPDATE, UM, EARLY MORE, UH, TO THE EXTENT TO WHICH THE WINTER STORM HAS IS IMPACTING, UH, OUR, OUR BUDGET PROCESS.
UM, THE WAY THE BUDGET PROCESS TYPICALLY WORKS IS, UH, YOU KNOW, IN, IN EARLY MARCH, WE WILL SUBMIT A FIVE-YEAR FORECAST TO THE BUDGET OFFICE, THE BUDGET OFFICE REVIEWS AND COMPILES ALL OF THE DEPARTMENTS, UH, FORECAST SUBMITTALS.
UM, AND THEN WE'LL GENERALLY IN APRIL MAY TIMEFRAME, UH, PREPARE, UM, A FORECAST PRESENTATION, UH, TO COUNCIL, UH, IN, IN THE INTERIM, UH, YOU KNOW, SUBSEQUENT TO THE FORECAST OF MENTAL WEALTH, WE'LL START WORKING ON OUR BUDGET PROCESS.
SO, SO AS YOU ALL KNOW, UH, THE WINTER STORM IN FEBRUARY, UH, WAS SHORTLY BEFORE THAT, THAT FORECAST THE MIDDLE, UM, AND IT DIDN'T SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACT, YOU KNOW, ANY ASSUMPTIONS THAT WE MADE, UH, FOR, FROM A FORECAST MODEL PERSPECTIVE.
BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, SHORTLY THEREAFTER, WE BEGAN TO LOOK AT WAYS IN WHICH THE WINTER STORM MIGHT IMPACT, UM, YOU KNOW, OUR, OUR, OUR BUDGETS.
SO, UH, THERE, THERE WERE SOME CHANGES, UH, THAT, THAT, UH, WERE REFLECTED IN OUR BUDGET SUBMITTAL OR BUDGETS METAL, UH, WAS MADE, UH, TO, UH, THE BUDGET OFFICE ON, ON MAY 7TH AND ON JULY 7TH, UM, THE CITY MANAGER WILL PRESENT THE BUDGET TO, UH, CITY COUNCIL.
SO, SO AS IN PAST YEARS, UM, YOU KNOW, WE WE'VE BEEN ASKED TO, TO, TO FOCUS, YOU KNOW, BEFORE THAT JULY 7TH PRESENTATION TO COUNCIL, UM, ON, ON, UH, PUBLICLY AVAILABLE INFORMATION.
SO THE FORECAST HAS BEEN MADE AVAILABLE, UH, TO, UM, TO CITY COUNCIL.
UM, AND, AND AS SUCH, YOU KNOW, WE'LL, WE'LL TALK, UH, YOU KNOW, WE'LL, WE'LL TALK ABOUT, UH, YOU KNOW, THE FORECAST, BUT ALSO IN YEARS PAST, IT WE'LL TALK ABOUT THE, THE CHANGES THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, THAT WERE MADE EITHER AS A RESULT OF THE WINTER STORM OR, OR OTHER BUDGET REQUESTS THAT CAME IN, UM, THAT WEREN'T NECESSARILY INCLUDED IN, IN OUR FORECAST OF MENTAL, UH, BUT FROM A WINTER STORM UPDATE PERSPECTIVE, UH, YOU KNOW, WE, WE EXPECT, UH, THE TOTAL COST, UM, TO, TO THE UTILITY, TO BE IN, IN AROUND THE $4 MILLION RANGE.
UM, THAT INCLUDES, YOU KNOW, BOTTLED WATER, UH, WATER DISTRIBUTION EXPENSES, UM, OVER RELATED TO, YOU KNOW, STAFF RESPONSE TO THE WINTER STORM.
BUT THE BULK OF THE COST THAT WE INCURRED WAS, WAS BOTTLED WATER, I BELIEVE IN, UM, AROUND 1.2, $1.4 MILLION RANGE.
UM, BUT FROM A BUDGET PERSPECTIVE, I THINK THE, THE, UH, THE, THE BIGGEST IMPACT WILL BE, YOU KNOW, IN TERMS OF HOW, HOW DO WE LOOK AT, UH, UM, THE THINGS THAT WE COULD DO IN SHORT ORDER IN TERMS OF UPDATING OUR BUDGET, UH, TO, TO TRY AND ADDRESS OUR RESILIENCY EFFORTS.
AND SO THERE WERE A SET OF POSITIONS THAT WE INCLUDED IN OUR BUDGETS OF METAL THAT WERE SPECIFICALLY RESILIENCY RELATED.
UM, AND THEN FROM A, A CAPITAL PROJECT PERSPECTIVE, UM, YOU KNOW, WE HAD FINALIZED JUST BEFORE THE WINTER STORM, WE HAD, UM, THOUGHT WE HAD FINALIZED OUR, UM, FIVE-YEAR CAPITAL SPENDING, UH, PROGRAM, UM, SUBMITTAL.
AND WE INCORPORATED THAT INTO OUR FORECAST.
UH, BUT, BUT AFTER THE WINTER STORM, WE, WE, WE LOOKED BACK AT SOME PROJECTS THAN PREVIOUSLY BEEN IDENTIFIED AS, AS FOR HORIZON PROJECTS.
UM, AND, AND TRY TO IDENTIFY THOSE PROJECTS THAT MAYBE, UH, SHOULD BE ACCELERATED TO, TO MORE QUICKLY ADDRESSED OUR RESILIENCY EFFORTS FROM A, FROM AN INFRASTRUCTURE PERSPECTIVE.
AND SO WE ADDED, UH, YOU KNOW, ALMOST $20 MILLION AND, UM, PROPOSED PROJECTS TO, TO THAT, UH, FIVE-YEAR SPENDING PLAN THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, HAD, HAD, UH, BEEN PUT TOGETHER IN, IN FEBRUARY, LATE JANUARY, EARLY FEBRUARY, JUST BEFORE THE WINTER STORM, UM, FROM AN OVERALL BUDGET PERSPECTIVE, YOU KNOW, CERTAINLY WE UNDERSTAND THAT,
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UM, THE, THE AFTER-ACTION REVIEW IS, IS, IS ONGOING.AND SO WHAT I WOULD EXPECT IS, YOU KNOW, UM, WE, WE IDENTIFIED THE THINGS THAT WE, WE FELT LIKE WE COULD ADDRESS IMMEDIATELY, UH, IN TERMS OF THIS BUDGET CYCLE OR PULL IN, YOU KNOW, SOONER RATHER THAN LATER.
BUT AS WE CONTINUE TO WORK THROUGH AFTER ACTION, I WOULD EXPECT, YOU KNOW, POTENTIALLY, UM, MID-YEAR BUDGET AMENDMENTS, IF THERE'S, FOR EXAMPLE, THE CIP PROJECT THAT WE IDENTIFY AS A HIGH PRIORITY THAT MAYBE WASN'T ALREADY IN OUR LIST OF, UH, FUTURE PROJECTS, UM, YOU WILL HAVE THE ABILITY TO, UM, TO, TO GO TO COUNCIL COMMISSIONING COUNCIL WITH, UM, BUDGET AMENDMENTS FOR, FOR ANY, UM, ANY OF THOSE, UH, TYPES OF PROJECTS, UM, AS WELL AS ON THE O AND M SIDE.
SO, YOU KNOW, WE, WE, WE MAY COME BACK NEXT YEAR, IF THERE'S SOME THINGS THAT WE IDENTIFIED FROM AN O AND M PERSPECTIVE THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, WHAT REALLY HELPED US, YOU KNOW, IMPROVE OUR RESILIENCY, UH, MID YEAR, YOU KNOW, WE'LL DO THAT.
BUT, UM, BEYOND THAT, WE WOULD EXPECT, UH, YOU KNOW, NEXT YEAR'S BUDGET TO MORE FULLY INCORPORATE, UM, OTHER RESILIENCY EFFORTS, MORE IN THE WAY OF CAPITAL PROJECTS, IF THERE WAS ADDITIONAL ONM, UM, INITIATIVES THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, WE THINK WILL HELP US BETTER SUPPORT, UM, OUR RESILIENCY, UH, I WOULD EXPECT, UH, YOU KNOW, I I'D EXPECT TO CONTINUE TO SEE, YOU KNOW, POTENTIAL CHANGES, UH, WHETHER IT'S THROUGH BUDGET AMENDMENTS OR, OR EVEN NEXT YEAR'S BUDGET PROCESS AND, AND, YOU KNOW, MORE LIKELY EVEN, UM, YOU KNOW, A YEAR OR TWO AFTER THAT, I THINK THIS WILL BE, UM, YOU KNOW, AN ONGOING PROCESS IN TERMS OF, UM, IDENTIFYING ACTIONS THAT WE CAN DO SOONER RATHER THAN LATER, BUT, BUT, UH, OVER THE NEXT YEAR OR TWO, UM, YOU KNOW, I'D EXPECT US TO, TO FULLY BUDGET IN PROGRAM IN, UM, YOU KNOW, OTHER, OTHER COSTS RELATED TO OUR RESILIENCY EFFORTS.
ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT, UH, YOU KNOW, OUR APPROACH TO, TO WINTER STORM AFTER ACTION AND, AND HOW WE WOULD PROGRAM THOSE INS FROM A BUDGET PERSPECTIVE? WELL, NO MORE MORIARTY, UH, UM, THIS IS KIND OF A COVID SLASH WINTER STORM.
ARE THERE GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS TO REINFORCE THE WATER UTILITY FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OR THE STATE GOVERNMENT WHERE EITHER PEOPLE NOT ABLE TO PAY THEIR BILL, OR JUST GENERALLY DAMAGES THAT, UH, DIFFERENT AGENCIES IN STATE GOVERNMENT WOULD GIVE TO THE CITY? AND LET ME START WITH PEOPLE WHO WERE NOT ABLE TO PAY THEIR BILLS.
AREN'T THOSE LOSSES TO REVENUES REIMBURSABLE FROM THE GOVERNMENT.
I AM NOT FAMILIAR WITH, UM, YOU KNOW, ANY PROGRAMS THAT OFFER REIMBURSEMENT TO, TO ALSO WATER OR OTHER, UH, MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTS, UM, OR FOR LOSS OF REVENUE, UH, RELATED TO CUSTOMERS NOT BEING ABLE TO PAY THEIR BILLS.
THERE ARE A NUMBER OF GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS THAT ARE HELPING THE END CUSTOMER YOU'RE PROVIDING A PAYMENT ASSISTANCE FOR, FOR CUSTOMERS.
UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK THERE THERE'S TWO OR THREE FEDERAL PROGRAMS THAT ARE MAKING THEIR WAY DOWN TO, UM, TO MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTS.
UM, ONE OF THEM, FOR EXAMPLE, RUNNING THROUGH THE COUNTY, UH, THERE IS AN IN CHINA, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU WANT TO SPEAK INTO THE HAWKER PROGRAM, UM, WHICH IS, UH, PROVIDING GRANT FUNDING FOR, UH, FOR BOTH RENTAL ASSISTANCE.
BUT, BUT ALSO TO THE EXTENT THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, THE, UM, CUSTOMERS ARE HAVING ISSUES PAYING THEIR BILLS PROVIDES ASSISTANCE FOR, FOR YOUR UTILITY PAYMENT ASSISTANCE.
AND, UM, THE HAWKER PROGRAM IN PARTICULAR IS UP AND RUNNING, AND WE'RE ALREADY SEEING, UH, OUR CUSTOMERS RECEIVE, UH, FUNDING, UM, FOR, UH, FOR UTILITY PAYMENT ASSISTANCE.
AFTER, YOU KNOW, UH, THEY'VE RECEIVED FUNDING, YOU KNOW, SAY INITIALLY FOR, FOR RENTAL ASSISTANCE.
UM, IN ADDITION, UH, YOU KNOW, AUSTIN WATER AND AUSTIN ENERGY HAS, UH, PROVIDED FUNDING FOR OUR US ONE PAYMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, WE CAN CONTINUE TO SEE A STRONG DEMAND, UH, FOR A PAYMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.
HOWEVER, WE HAVE SEEN, YOU KNOW, AN INCREASE IN THAT'S WHERE WE'RE, WHERE YOU GIVE THE MONEY AWAY.
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AND THE NOTION OF MY QUESTION IS, UH, WHERE THERE'S THE OPPORTUNITY FOR RECOVERY FOR EITHER DAMAGES OR WHATEVER.I JUST WANT AN ASSURANCE FROM YOU THAT YOU ARE FULLY, UH, WILLING TO AT LEAST INVESTIGATE THAT CAPITALIZE ON THAT AND GET THAT.
AND I DON'T WANT TO DRAG THIS OUT, BUT I JUST WANT TO MAKE THAT POINT AND I'LL GO, RIGHT, RIGHT.
AND THE WINTER STORM WASN'T DECLARED EMERGENCY AND, AND WITH, UH, DECLARED EMERGENCIES, YOU KNOW, UH, WE, UH, ACCUMULATE OUR COST ASSOCIATED, UH, WITH THE WINTER STORM.
SO, SO DAMAGES TO OUR INFRASTRUCTURE AND, AND OTHER COSTS, UH, RELATED TO THE WINTER STORE, WE'RE ASSESSING THOSE COSTS, WE'RE GATHERING THOSE COSTS AND, AND WOULD EXPECT A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF THOSE COSTS TO BE REIMBURSED THROUGH FEMA.
BUT GENERALLY SPEAKING, LOST REVENUES ARE NOT RECOVERABLE, UH, THROUGH, UH, UH, FEMA GRANTS AND FEMA DISASTER RELIEF.
UM, SO I HAVEN'T SEEN SPECIFICS WITH, WITH REGARD TO, UM, TO THE WINTER STORM DECLARATION, BUT, UH, I WOULDN'T EXPECT LOST REVENUE.
HASN'T BEEN EMPLOYED IN PREVIOUS DISASTERS.
AND, UH, I WOULDN'T EXPECT IT TO HAVE BEEN INCLUDED IN THIS ONE AS WELL, BUT WHAT WE, YOU KNOW, PART OF OUR PROCESS IS TO LOOK AT WHAT IS INCLUDED IN TERMS OF RELIEF.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, IF THERE IS THE AVAILABILITY OR THE ABILITY TO, UH, TO SEE LOSS REVENUES, WE WOULD DO.
SO I THINK FROM OUR PERSPECTIVE, THOUGH, FROM AUSTIN WATER'S PERSPECTIVE, UM, YOU KNOW, WE, WE, WE REALLY DIDN'T HAVE, UM, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT LOST REVENUE, UM, WE, I'M NOT SURE THAT WE HAVE WHAT WE WOULD CONSIDER TO BE LOST REVENUE.
YOU KNOW, WE, WE, WE PROVIDED BILL RELIEF TO THE EXTENT THAT CUSTOMERS MIGHT HAVE SEEN COSTS OVER AND ABOVE THEIR NORMAL BILLS, BUT THAT'S REVENUE THAT WE WOULDN'T HAVE NORMALLY RECEIVED OTHERWISE.
AND SO, UM, OUR PROGRAM WAS INTENDED TO TRY AND MAKE CUSTOMERS WHOLE, AND HAVE CUSTOMERS RECEIVED BILLS THAT WERE IN LINE WITH WHAT THEY NORMALLY WOULD HAVE RECEIVED.
UM, SO WHILE THERE WAS SOME FOREGONE REVENUE IT'S REVENUE THAT WE WOULD NOT HAVE SEEN IF NOT FOR THE STORM.
UM, AND I WAS THINKING, IS PEOPLE DURING THE COVID PANDEMIC, DIDN'T HAVE A JOB, DIDN'T PAY THEIR WATER BILL.
I'M PRETTY SURE THERE'S A FEDERAL PROGRAM TO REIMBURSE THE CITY OF AUSTIN FOR ALL OF THAT.
UM, TINA, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU WANT TO STICK TO THAT.
I THINK, I THINK THE FOCUS ON, ON THOSE PROGRAMS ARE ON END-USER PAYMENT ASSISTANCE, BUT, UH, TINA'S, UH, YOU KNOW, DONE QUITE A BIT OF RESEARCH, UM, WITH THAT, UM, DON'T FORGET TO STATE YOUR NAME.
UH, UM, CHRISTINA ROMERO OR TINA ROMERO, UM, WITH AUSTIN WATER FINANCE.
AND, UM, I HAVE REACHED OUT TO, UM, THE TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF, UM, OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES AS WELL, JUST TO TALK TO THEM ABOUT, UH, ANY FEDERAL PROGRAMS THAT ARE BEING FUNNELED DOWN AND, UM, HOW WE GET THOSE FUNDS.
AND SO MY UNDERSTANDING IS, UM, THERE ARE CERTAIN TYPES OF, UM, FUNDS AVAILABLE, BUT IT DEPENDS ON THE ENTITY AND WHAT THOSE FUNDS ARE RESERVED FOR.
AND AN EXAMPLE WOULD BE, UM, THE COMPREHENSIVE ENERGY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM THAT, UH, WE'RE OFFENDS ARE PROVIDED TO TRAVIS COUNTY, BUT THAT STILL GOES TO THE END USER WHERE TRAVIS COUNTY IS, IS HELPING, UM, THE END USER, WHICH IS, UH, RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS, UH, GET ASSISTANCE FOR THOSE UTILITY BILLS.
AND ALSO AS JOSEPH MENTIONED, HAKA AS WELL, UM, THROUGH THE RENTAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM, THEY ALSO PROVIDE UTILITY BILL ASSISTANCE AS WELL, UM, THROUGH THEIR PROGRAM WHERE THE DOLLARS ARE COMING THROUGH, UM, FEDERAL FUNDS AS WELL.
THAT HELP ANSWER SOME OF YOUR QUESTION.
UH, ALL I'M SAYING IS, UH, OBVIOUSLY YOU GUYS ARE THE PROS, I'VE JUST ASKING YOU TO CHECK INTO THAT AND GET EVERY DIME WE CAN GET CLUED MY QUESTIONING.
UM, AND WE ARE, EVERY TIME WE HEAR SOMETHING ABOUT, UM, MONEY BEING PASSED DOWN FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, WE ARE LOOKING INTO IT, TRYING TO SEE CAN, UH, HOW DOES THIS MONEY GET FUNNELED OUT? IS THERE SOMETHING AUSTIN WATER NEEDS TO APPLY FOR? UM, OR IS IT BEING PASTORED DIFFERENT PROGRAMS IN ORDER TO GET TO THAT RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMER? RIGHT.
AND I WOULD JUST ADD, YOU KNOW, UM, THE AMERICAN WATER WORKS ASSOCIATION OR TRADE ORGANIZATION DOES A REALLY GOOD JOB OF FUNNELING THAT INFORMATION, UH, DOWN US, UM, AS WELL AS, YOU KNOW, THE CITY'S, UH, GOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS, UH, OFFICE.
SO, SO WE, WE'VE GOT, UH, YOU KNOW, A NUMBER OF FOLKS
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ON THE LOOKOUT FOR, FOR PROGRAMS AND FUNDING THAT WOULD BE APPLICABLE, YOU KNOW, TO HELP EITHER THE UTILITY DIRECTLY OR OUR CUSTOMERS.AND WE REVIEW THOSE, YOU KNOW, AS WE GET THAT INFORMATION.
LET'S GO AHEAD AND MOVE ON TO THE NEXT ITEM ON OUR AGENDA.
UH, THE FINANCIAL STATUS REPORT FROM MARCH OF 2021.
SO IN YOUR HANDOUTS, UM, YOU SHOULD HAVE A, UH, A SET OF FUND SUMMARIES OF YOUR FINANCIAL STATUS, UH, REPORTS, UM, DOCUMENT NUMBER TWO.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, I WON'T GO INTO TOO MUCH DETAIL UNLESS YOU HAVE, UH, YOU KNOW, SPECIFIC QUESTIONS.
UM, BUT YOU KNOW, TH THIS IS OUR FINANCIAL STATUS REPORT THROUGH, UM, THROUGH THE END OF MARCH.
SO, SO THIS IS WHERE THE UTILITY STANDS, UM, AS OF THE END OF MARCH POST, UM, YOU KNOW, POST WINTER STORM.
UM, AND YOU CAN SEE, YOU KNOW, FROM A REVENUE PERSPECTIVE, UH, WE ENDED MARCH $10.7 MILLION ABOVE OUR, OUR BUDGET EXPECTATIONS, UM, YOU KNOW, FROM A TRANSFERS IN PERSPECTIVE.
AND THIS IS PAGE TWO OF AGAIN, DOCUMENT NUMBER TWO TRANSFERS IN WERE SLIGHTLY, UM, ABOVE OUR BUDGET EXPECTATIONS.
UM, AND, AND A BIG PART OF THAT IS, IS TRANSFERS IN FROM, FROM THE COMMUNITY BENEFIT CHARGE, UH, WERE, WERE SLIGHTLY ABOVE, YOU KNOW, BUDGETED EXPECTATIONS.
SO WHAT THAT MEANS IS, YOU KNOW, OUR, UM, OUR CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE PROGRAM CUSTOMERS, UM, AND THE DISCOUNTS THAT THEY RECEIVE WERE SLIGHTLY HIGHER THAN, THAN WE HAD BUDGETED.
AND, AND AS A RESULT, THE REIMBURSEMENT FROM, FROM OUR COMMUNITY BENEFIT CHARGE FUND, UH, WAS ABOUT 700,000 HIGHER THAN, THAN WE HAD ANTICIPATED IN THAT, YOU KNOW, COUNTS FOR REALLY THE ENTIRETY OF THE, UM, ADDITIONAL AVAILABLE FUNDS THERE THAT WERE BUDGETED TO BE TRANSFERRED IN.
UM, MOVING DOWN TO TWO PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS, UM, YOU KNOW, PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS FOR, UH, SLIGHTLY UNDER, UM, YOU KNOW, OUR BUDGET EXPECTATIONS THROUGH, THROUGH MARCH AT ABOUT 4%, UM, WITH, WITH MOST OF THAT COMING FROM, FROM OPERATIONS, UM, YOU KNOW, INCLUDING, YOU KNOW, VACANCY SAVINGS AND, AND, AND OTHER COSTS.
BUT, UM, AND WE'RE, WE'RE RUNNING, UM, A LITTLE BIT BELOW BUDGET EXPECTATIONS FROM AN OPERATING EXPENSE.
UM, AND, UM, AND THEN THE SLIGHTLY, UM, ON BELOW, UM, OR FOR OTHER REQUIREMENTS, BUT THAT'S JUST BECAUSE, UM, YOU KNOW, SUPPLEMENTAL RETIREMENT CONTRIBUTION, UH, IS, IS BUDGETED AS A SINGLE LINE ITEM, BUT IT'S, YOU KNOW, THOSE COSTS AS THEY'RE INCURRED ACTUALLY ARE SPREAD THROUGH OPERATIONS.
SO, UM, SO WHERE YOU SEE, UM, WE HAD 400,000 OF EXPECTED BUDGET THROUGH, THROUGH MIDDLE OF THE YEAR.
THOSE COSTS ARE INCLUDED IN PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS ABOVE.
AND SO, UM, EVEN THOUGH THOSE COSTS ARE NOT BUDGETED IN PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS, WE'RE STILL, UM, UNDER BUDGET AND PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS AND, UM, YOU KNOW, UNDER BUDGET, UH, FOR, FOR OTHER REQUIREMENTS, UH, JUST BECAUSE OF THE WAY THOSE TRANSACTION PROCESS, UM, FROM A DEBT SERVICE PERSPECTIVE WERE, UH, BELOW BUDGET, UH, ABOUT 2.5 MILLION OR 3%.
AND, UH, WITH, WITH MOST OF THAT BEING A COMMERCIAL PAPER INTEREST, UH, BEING LESS THAN WE HAD BUDGETED AND THAT'S IN LARGE PART DUE TO, UM, THE, THE DEBT ISSUE THAT, THAT WE TOOK OUT IN NOVEMBER, WE REFINANCED OUR OUTSTANDING COMMERCIAL PAPER AT THAT TIME.
UM, AND, AND BROUGHT THAT BALANCE BACK DOWN, UH, TO, TO NEAR ZERO.
AND SO OUR COMMERCIAL ART'S OUTSTANDING COMMERCIAL PAPER BALANCES AS LOWER THAN, THAN WE HAD ANTICIPATED AND, AND TRANSFERS OUT, UH, TRANSFERS OUT ARE DONE, UM, YOU KNOW, DEPENDING ON THE TRANSFER, EITHER ON A MONTHLY OR QUARTERLY BASIS.
AND THOSE GENERALLY JUST HAPPEN, YOU KNOW, IF WE BUDGET FOR A MILLION DOLLARS AND TRANSFER OUT AND WE'LL SPLIT IT, YOU KNOW? UM, AND, AND SO WE ALMOST NEVER SEE A VARIANCE IN TRANSFERS OUT UNLESS WE, UM, UNLESS WE INTENTIONALLY DECIDE IT WAS A TRANSFER MORE OR LESS THAN, THAN WE HAD BUDGETED, BUT THOSE TRANSFERS ARE, ARE DESIGNED TO BE BROKEN UP INTO AGAIN, IF IT'S A MONTHLY TRANSFER, 12 MONTHLY ALLOTMENTS, OR IF IT'S A QUARTERLY TRANSFER INTO FOUR, UM, QUARTERLY ALLOTMENTS.
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AND SO WE, AGAIN, WE, WE RARELY SEE, UH, YOU KNOW, ANY VARIANTS ON THE TRANSFERS OUT, ALTHOUGH I WILL SAY, UM, THAT, UH, YOU, YOU WILL SEE, YOU KNOW, WE'VE PLANNED A $35 MILLION DEBT DEFEASANCE FOR THE YEAR, AND WE'LL TALK ABOUT DEBT MANAGEMENT A LITTLE BIT LATER IN THE MEETING, BUT, UM, WE, WE HAVE NOT EXPENDED ANY, ANY FUNDING FOR, FOR DEBT DEFEASANCE.AND, AND NORMALLY WE DO IT, YOU KNOW, IN, IN THE MAY TIMEFRAME, WHICH IS WHY YOU SEE THE BUDGET EXPECTATION IS ZERO THROUGH, UM, THROUGH THE END OF MARCH.
UM, BUT WE'RE W WE'RE NOT ANTICIPATING TO HAVE A DEBT DEFEASANCE IN THE CURRENT YEAR.
RATHER, WE'LL HAVE ONE, UH, AT THE BEGINNING OF THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR, AND WE'LL HAVE, UH, YOU KNOW, A, A MUCH BIGGER SEIZES TRANSACTION, UH, THAN THE $35 MILLION THAT WE'RE ACTUALLY LIED TO OR PLANNING TO HAVE TWO NEXT YEAR.
UM, SO NEXT YEAR'S BUDGET WILL BE MUCH HIGHER AND YOU'LL SEE THAT.
AND IN TERMS OF THE FORECAST, UH, SUBMITTAL, YOU KNOW, UH, SHORTLY.
SO THAT'S THE BRINGS US TO, UM, OUR HERE IN ENDING BALANCE, UM, YOU KNOW, WERE PROJECTING, UM, ARE THROUGH MARCH, WE'VE GOT, UM, AN ENDING BALANCE OF, OF 224 MILLION, UM, AS OPPOSED TO A BUDGETED OR FORECASTED ENDING BALANCE OF 179 MILLION.
SO, SO BOTH BECAUSE THE REVENUES ARE, ARE A LITTLE BIT HIGHER THAN WE'D ANTICIPATED EXPENSES ARE LOWER THAN WE HAD DISSIPATED, BUT WE ALSO STARTED THE YEAR WITH A HIGHER IN IMBALANCE THING THAT WE HAD BUDGETED.
SO, SO WE'RE ABOUT 40 MILLION, $44 MILLION.
UM, I, OUR, IN TERMS OF OUR ENDING BALANCE, AND THEN WE'LL ANTICIPATE IN ALL THAT'S TO SAY IS, YOU KNOW, WHERE, YOU KNOW, DESPITE THE PANDEMIC, DESPITE THE WINTER STORM, UM, AND WE'RE, WE'RE IN A STRONG FINANCIAL CONDITION, UM, AND IT, IT, YOU KNOW, PROVIDING US AN OPPORTUNITY THAT WE'LL TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT, UH, YOU KNOW, WITH RELATED TO DEBT MANAGEMENT, UM, TO, TO FIND OTHER WAYS TO, UM, TO, TO, UM, OTHER WAYS TO MANAGE OUR DEBT SERVICE LEVELS, PARTICULARLY, UM, IN HOW THEY, HOW THEY IMPACT OUR, UM, OUR FINANCIAL METRICS.
UM, SO THIS IS, THIS IS COMBINED THERE'S, THERE'S ALSO INDIVIDUAL FUND SUMMARIES, UH, FOR WATER STARTING ON PAGE THREE.
UM, THE WATER FUND SUMMARY IS ON PAGE THREE, UM, AND THE WASTEWATER ON PAGE FOUR, AND THEN FINALLY RE RECLAIMED FUND SUMMARY ON PAGE FIVE.
SO THE, THE, THE COMBINED FUND SUMMARY IS THE COMBINATION OF, OF, OF EACH OF THOSE THREE FUNDS, WATER, WASTEWATER, AND RECLAIMED, AND, AND I'D BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS, UM, YOU KNOW, WHETHER ON THE, UH, FUND SUMMARY AS A WHOLE, OR, UM, YOU KNOW, INDIVIDUAL FUND SUMMARIES FOR WATER WASTEWATER AND REFLECT THIS IS MONTH SEVEN, RIGHT.
SO, UH, MARCH, MARCH IS THE MID POINT OF THE YEAR.
AND, AND, UM, YOU KNOW, IT'S, UM, WHEN, WHEN YOU, YOU HAVE EXCESS FUND BALANCE THAT, THAT YOU HADN'T PLANNED, IT PROVIDES OPPORTUNITIES, UM, TO A, EITHER SET FUNDS ASIDE FOR, FOR, UH, FUTURE COSTS.
AND CERTAINLY WE UNDERSTAND THAT, UM, THERE WILL LIKELY BE, UM, SOME FUTURE COSTS RELATED TO OUR CAPITAL PROGRAM AND OUR RESILIENCY EFFORTS.
UM, BUT, BUT ALSO, YOU KNOW, FROM A DEBT MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVE.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, IN YEARS WHERE, UM, WHERE WE HAVE EXCESS FUND BALANCE, UH, YOU KNOW, THERE, THERE MAY BE YEARS IF WE SIT ON IT AND, AND, AND SAVE IT FOR A RAINY DAY, OR, YOU KNOW, THERE MAY BE YEARS WHERE WE DECIDED WE, YOU KNOW, IT, IT WOULD BE FINANCIALLY, UM, UH, IT COULD BE FINANCIALLY BETTER FOR US TO FIND WAYS TO USE THAT MONEY TO EITHER BRING DOWN FUTURE COSTS OR SAVE IT FOR SPECIFIC CAPITAL PROJECTS.
DOES ANYBODY HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR JOSEPH? OKAY, QUICK QUESTION.
I'M JUST CURIOUS ON THE DEBT SERVICE COVERAGE, WATER VERSUS WASTEWATER, I NOTICED THAT IT WAS A LOT LOWER ON THE WASTEWATER THAN IT WAS THE WATER.
IS THAT, IS THAT ONE, IS THERE SOMETHING YOU COULD POINT TO, OR IS IT, IS IT JUST, JUST A COMBINATION OF THINGS I'M JUST CURIOUS IF THAT WAS AN INDICATOR THAT THERE'S MORE INVESTMENT GOING INTO THE WASTEWATER SIDE BECAUSE THE REVENUES TEND TO KIND
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OF TRACK EACH OTHER? UM, WELL, SO, UM, WASTEWATER REVENUES, BECAUSE, UM, YOU KNOW, MUCH OF OUR WASTEWATER WATER REVENUES ARE BASED ON WASTEWATER AVERAGES.UM, YOUR WASTEWATER REVENUES DON'T FLUCTUATE AS MUCH AS WATER REVENUES, YOU KNOW, EVEN WHEN WE SEE, UM, YOU KNOW, PERIODS OF DROUGHT OR HEAVY RAINFALL THAT WILL IMPACT US ON THE WATER SIDE, UM, WE DON'T TEND TO SEE THE SAME REVENUE VOLATILITY ON, ON THE WASTEWATER SIDE.
UM, BUT I WOULD CAUTION YOU TO LOOK AT THE ACTUAL MID YEAR, YOU KNOW, WE'VE GOT DEBT SERVICE THAT, UH, COMES DUE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.
AND, AND SO, FOR EXAMPLE, IF WE'RE LOOKING AT WATER ON PAGE THREE, UM, FOR THE MID POINT OF THE YEAR, BASED ON, YOU KNOW, WHAT DEAD COST WE HAD ANTICIPATED TO HAVE, YOU KNOW, FOR THE MID POINT OF THE YEAR, UM, YOU KNOW, FROM AN OVERALL BUDGET PERSPECTIVE, WE, WE BUDGETED 1.73 ON THE WATER SIDE, BUT MID YEAR, BECAUSE WE HAVE, UM, SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF DEBT SERVICE PAYMENTS THAT ARE DUE IN NOVEMBER OF EACH YEAR, WE, WE TEND TO START THE YEAR WITH A LOWER LEVEL OF COVERAGE, UM, AS WE GO THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, BUT THE COVERAGE IS REALLY MEASURED ON, ON THE ANNUAL YEAR END BASIS.
AND, AND SO SOMETIMES WE EVEN HESITATE TO EVEN PUT THESE NUMBERS, YOU KNOW, MID YEAR, BECAUSE IT'S NOT REALLY HOW IT'S, UM, HOW IT'S MEASURED.
UH, BUT IT DOES SHOW THAT BECAUSE A LOT OF OUR DEBT SERVICES FRONT END LOADED THAT UNTIL, BUT OUR REVENUES ARE OUR YEAR END LOADED IN TERMS OF SUMMER REVENUES, PARTICULARLY ON THE WATER SIDE.
SO YOU'LL SEE THAT 1.2 MID YEAR FOR WATER REVENUE, BUT BECAUSE WE'VE HAD ADDITIONAL REVENUES, WE'RE ACTUALLY TRENDING A LITTLE BIT HIGHER THAN THAT, WHICH WOULD TEND TO INDICATE IF ALL ELSE REMAINS THE SAME THAT WE WOULD END THE YEAR ABOVE THE 1 73 ON, ON WATER SIDE.
UM, BUT ON THE WASTEWATER SIDE, WE BUDGETED FOR 1.82.
SO WASTEWATER IS ACTUALLY NORMALLY A LITTLE BIT HIGHER.
UM, AND WE'RE AT 1.65, UM, IN TERMS OF THE MID-YEAR BUDGET EXPECTATION.
UH, BUT BECAUSE THOSE REVENUES AGAIN ARE RELATIVELY STABLE BECAUSE REVENUES HAVE COME IN HIGHER.
UM, AND, AND IN PART FROM, FROM COMMERCIAL, WE HAD, YOU KNOW, WE WERE PRETTY CONSERVATIVE IN TERMS OF, UM, OUR COMMERCIAL BUDGETING.
WE, WE WEREN'T SURE EXACTLY HOW THE PANDEMIC WAS GOING TO IMPACT OUR COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS.
AND SO WE WERE PROBABLY MORE CONSERVATIVE, UM, UM, ON THE COMMERCIAL SIDE THAN WE COULD HAVE BEEN.
BUT, YOU KNOW, REMEMBER WHEN WE TURNED IN THE BUDGET LAST YEAR, IT WAS, IT WAS THIS TIME LAST YEAR, AND WE WERE TWO MONTHS INTO THE PANDEMIC.
AND REALLY THERE WERE A LOT OF UNKNOWNS IN TERMS OF, OF THE IMPACT, BUT WE'RE, WE'RE TRENDING, YOU KNOW, UH, OVER TO O MID YEAR ON, ON THE WASTEWATER SIDE.
BUT, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, YOU KNOW, A GOOD PART OF THAT IS THOSE REVENUES ARE MUCH MORE STABLE AND, UH, YOU KNOW, DON'T RAMP UP AS MUCH AS THE WATER REVENUES.
I, YOU KNOW, THE, THE DEFEASANCE TIMING AND THE VOLATILITY OF WATER VERSUS WASTEWATER WAS VERY HELPFUL.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS THAT LET'S MOVE ON QUICKLY BECAUSE WE'RE GOING TO LIVE WITH, THERE'S ONE OF OUR COMMISSIONERS HERE SOON, UM, FOR YOUR FORECAST FOR THE 2226 BUDGET.
SO THAT IS A DOCUMENT NUMBER THREE.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK WE TALKED A LITTLE BIT, UH, YOU CAN, UH, COMMISSION ABOUT OUR NEW FORECASTING TOOLS SCENARIO AND, AND WHAT YOU SEE, UH, ON THE, ON THE SECOND PAGE, YOU KNOW, PACKET PAGE PDF PAGE, UH, NINE AND 10 IS OUR SCENARIO FUND SUMMARY.
AND THESE ARE HIGH-LEVEL FUND SUMMARIES.
UM, YOU KNOW, THAT, THAT SUMMARIZE THE DETAILS THAT YOU SAW, YOU KNOW, IN THE, UM, THE FINANCIAL STATUS REPORT UPDATES.
BUT, BUT THIS IS THE BEGINNING ON PAGE NINE, OUR FIVE-YEAR FORECAST THAT WAS SUBMITTED, UH, TO THE BUDGET OFFICE.
AND I THINK, UM, YOU KNOW, IN TERMS OF THE HIGHLIGHTS YOU AS, AS, AS YOU ALL, I'M SURE RECALL OUR LAST RATE ACTION, UM, OTHER THAN, YOU KNOW, TEMPORARY RATE ACTIONS YOU'RE RELATED TO, UH, THE, THE PANDEMIC AND THAT SORT OF THING.
OUR LAST RATE ACTION WAS A RATE REDUCTION IN 2018.
[00:30:01]
WE HAD NO RATE INCREASE IN 20 19, 20, 20, 20 21.UM, AND, AND FOR 2022 FOR THIS FIVE-YEAR FORECAST PERIOD, UH, WE'RE NOT FORECASTING ANOTHER INCREASE, UM, UNTIL 2024, UM, WHICH WAS ABOUT A THREE AND A HALF PERCENT, UM, OVERALL REVENUE INCREASED.
UM, AND THEN ANOTHER SMALLER ONE AND 26.
UM, AND, AND THOSE ARE GREAT INCREASES THAT WE WOULD CHARACTERIZE AS, YOU KNOW, MORE OF A, UH, INFLATIONARY TYPE RATE INCREASED.
UM, YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU GO, UH, FIVE YEARS, SIX YEARS, AND, AND HOPEFULLY BY THE TIME, UH, WE, WE GET TO 24, IT WILL HAVE BEEN SEVEN YEARS FROM OUR LAST RATE INCREASE SIX YEARS FROM OUR RATE REDUCTION, UM, YOU KNOW, AN INCREASE, UH, KNOW YOU WANT TO HAVE, UM, YOU KNOW, A MODEST INCREASE TO KEEP UP WITH COST AND CERTAINLY WITH EVERYTHING THAT'S GOING ON.
UM, YOU KNOW, IN TERMS OF THE ECONOMY, UH, YOU KNOW, WE ARE SEEING INFLATION CREEP UP AT HIGHER LEVELS, UM, THAN, THAN WE'VE SEEN IN YEARS PAST, YOU KNOW, IT'S, UH, SHORTAGES, UM, YOU KNOW, IN TERMS OF, UH, COMPUTER CHIPS AND, UM, YOU KNOW, IT'S REALLY, IT'S IMPACTING EVERYTHING FROM, UM, YOU KNOW, COMPUTERS AND PHONES TO, TO, TO CARS.
UM, SO, AND BECAUSE IT'S IMPACTING YOUR TRANSPORTATION, WE'VE SEEN REALLY JUST IN THE LAST TWO MONTHS, UH, STARTING TO SEE SIGNIFICANT INCREASES IN, IN TERMS OF INSTALLATION.
SO, SO THOSE PROPOSED, OR THOSE PLANNED INCREASES, I THINK WILL BE REALLY IMPORTANT TO KIND OF RESET REVENUES, UM, TO BE IN LINE WITH COSTS.
BUT, BUT IT'S ALSO FAR ENOUGH THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, IF INFLATION DOESN'T TAKE HOLD AS MUCH AS WE'RE EXPECTING, YOU KNOW, WE, WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO ADJUST AS, AS NECESSARY.
UM, YOU KNOW, IN TERMS OF THE FORECAST THERE'S, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, WE'RE, WE'RE FORECASTING IN, UH, THE COMPLETION OF THE AMI PROJECT AND TRANSITIONING, YOU KNOW, COST IN-HOUSE, YOU KNOW, CURRENTLY FOR EXAMPLE, OUR METER READING FOSTER, THEY'RE ALL BORN BY AUSTIN ENERGY AND THEN ALLOCATED TO US, UM, IN OUR, UH, CUSTOMER CARE ALLOCATION.
UM, BUT BECAUSE WE'LL HAVE AND MAINTAIN OUR AMI NETWORK, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'LL, WE'LL TAKE OVER THE MANAGEMENT OF, UH, UM, OUR, ESSENTIALLY OUR METER CAPTURING METER READING, CAPTURING PROCESS.
UM, AND, YOU KNOW, SO WE'LL SHIFT SOME COSTS OUT OF THE ALLOCATION AND THAT'S REFLECTED, YOU KNOW, IN, IN TERMS OF OUR FIVE-YEAR FORECAST, AGAIN, RECALL THAT, UM, THE FIVE-YEAR FORECAST WAS SUBMITTED, UH, IN MARCH.
AND SO IT, IT, IT DIDN'T, IT DIDN'T INCLUDE ANY SIGNIFICANT CHANGES AS A RESULT OF THE WINTER STORM.
UM, LET'S SEE IF WE LOOK TO, UM, PDF PAGE 10, UM, UP AT THE TOP, IN TERMS OF DEBT SERVICE REQUIREMENTS, YOU CAN SEE REALLY WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO FROM A DEBT MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVE, AND WE'RE REALLY COMFORTABLE WITH THE DEBT SERVICE REQUIREMENTS, YOU KNOW, IN THE, THE, THE LOW ONE 70 RANGE.
UM, AND IT'S NOT UNTIL, UM, 20, 25 THAT WE, THAT WE EVEN GET ABOVE 1 75, A 175 MILLION.
UM, AND, AND, AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE FEEL REALLY COMFORTABLE WITH, UH, YOU KNOW, IN TERMS OF OUR, UH, BEING ABLE TO SUSTAIN OUR RATES, UM, BECAUSE WE'RE CALLED JUST, YOU KNOW, IF FOR NO OTHER REASON THAN OUR DEBT SERVICE COVERAGE TARGET, UM, YOU KNOW, EVERY DOLLAR OF DEBT SERVICE, IF WE'RE AND OUR MANAGEMENT TARGET FOR DEBT SERVICE COVERAGE IS, IS 1.85.
SO THAT MEANS FROM A REVENUE PERSPECTIVE, EVERY, EVERY DOLLAR OF DEBT SERVICE, WE ARE TARGETING, UM, REVENUE COLLECTIONS OF, OF, UH, YOU KNOW, A DOLLAR 85.
SO TO THE EXTENT THAT WE CAN MAINTAIN, UM, YOU KNOW, CONSISTENT LEVELS OF DEBT SERVICE, WE CAN CONTINUE TO MEET THOSE DEBT SERVICE REQUIREMENTS IN A WAY THAT DOESN'T REQUIRE, YOU KNOW, ANY SIGNIFICANT INCREASES, YOU KNOW, FROM, FROM A RATE PERSPECTIVE.
SO THAT'S GOING TO BE CONTINUED TO BE IMPORTANT.
UM, BUT WE THINK THOSE, THOSE, YOU KNOW, FUTURE, UH, EXPECTED RATE INCREASES AS WELL, UM, LARGELY COVER US FROM, UM, YOU KNOW, FROM AN INCREASED OPERATING COST PERSPECTIVE.
UM, AND THEN, AND THEN, YOU KNOW, FOR TRANSFERS OUT, UM, YOU KNOW, WE, HAVEN'T SEEN A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN, IN TERMS OF, OF, OF OVERALL REVENUES, UM, YOU KNOW, REALLY IN THE LAST FOUR OR FIVE
[00:35:01]
YEARS.UM, AND, AND SO WHAT YOU SEE IS KIND OF A LEVELING OFF, YOU KNOW, IN TERMS OF OUR GENERAL FUND TRANSFER, IT'S NOT, UM, INCREASING, UM, YOU KNOW, IF YOU COMPARE IT BACK TO EVEN 2018, WHERE WE'RE AT LEVELS THAT ARE CONSISTENT WITH 2018 AND, AND PRIOR, UM, IN FACT, UH, YOU KNOW, THE THIRD COLUMN IS FY 22.
UM, YOU CAN SEE THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, OUR, OUR, OUR BUDGET OR IN THIS CASE, THE SECOND COLUMN ARE OUR CURRENT YEAR ESTIMATE, WHICH IS BASED ON THE BUDGET, UH, ASSUMES THAT WE'LL, UM, WE'LL TRANSFER 46.5 MILLION TO THE GENERAL PHONE.
UM, BUT BECAUSE OF, YOU KNOW, REVENUE REDUCTIONS IN 20, UH, 2019, AND THEN LEVELING OFF IN 2020, UM, IN PART DUE TO THE PANDEMIC, UM, THAT WE ANTICIPATE THE 22, WE'LL ACTUALLY BE SLIGHTLY BELOW WHERE WE, YOU KNOW, WHERE WE ARE.
UM, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I DO WANT TO TALK ABOUT AND WE'LL PROVIDE A LITTLE BIT MORE DETAIL AS WE, UM, AS WE CONTINUE TO MEET IS, UM, YOU KNOW, ALSO INCLUDED IN TRANSFERS OUT ARE OUR COSTS THAT WE PAY TO OTHER CITY DEPARTMENTS FOR THE SERVICES THAT THEY PROVIDE.
AND, AND, AND IT'S A LITTLE BIT OF AN AREA OF CONCERN, UM, AS WE'VE SEEN SOME SIGNIFICANT INCREASES IN SOME OF THOSE COSTS.
UM, SO IF YOU LOOK IN, IN TRANSFERS OUT ABOUT MIDWAY DOWN, FOR EXAMPLE, AND IT'S, IT'S, IT'S, UM, WELL, IT IT'S, UM, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, YOU KNOW, OUR, OUR, UH, FIVE 20 ACTUAL WAS 4 MILLION, UM, OUR FYI 21 ACTUALS 3.7, AND WE, WE PROJECTED IT TO BE RELATIVELY FLAT, BUT THAT'S ONE OF THE AREAS AS WE GET TO OUR BUDGET SUBMITTAL, YOU'LL SEE THAT SOME OF THESE INTERNAL TRANSFERS ARE STARTING TO COME IN HIGHER THAN, UM, THAN WE'VE EXPECTED.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, I'M NOT SURE TO WHAT DEGREE, UM, THAT'S BECAUSE, UH, THE, THE REVENUE, THE PROPERTY TAX REVENUE CAPS ON THE GENERAL FUND SIDE AND, AND, AND, UM, YOU KNOW, POTENTIALLY MORE COSTS BEING SHIFTED TO, UM, TO THE ENTERPRISE FUNDS, BUT IT'S AN AREA THAT WE'RE, WE'RE WATCHING AS WE MOVE FORWARD.
AND WE'LL, WE'LL TALK, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, IN A LITTLE BIT MORE DETAIL ABOUT THAT LATER.
UM, AND THEN FINALLY, YOU KNOW, IF YOU LOOK AT THE BOTTOM OF PDF PAGE 10, UM, YOU CAN SEE, UH, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE BIGGEST THINGS THAT I LOOK AT IN TERMS OF, UH, YOU KNOW, HOW, HOW DO WE MEASURE HOW WE'RE DOING IS, YOU KNOW, WHAT, WHAT'S OUR CHANGE IN, UM, AVAILABLE FUNDS OR REVENUES OVER OUR, OUR EXPENSES OR OUR TOTAL REQUIREMENTS.
UM, AND, AND YOU CAN SEE, UM, FOR FYI 22, WE'RE PROJECTING TO SPEND DOWN, UM, YOU KNOW, FROM A FORECAST PERSPECTIVE, SPEND DOWN A LITTLE BIT OF FUN BALANCE AND THAT'S IN PART, UM, DUE TO, UM, IT IT'S, IT'S IN PART IT'S PHASE IT'S RELATED.
UM, WE DID RECEIVE SOME FUNDS, UM, FOR WHISPER THAT WE HAD ANTICIPATED TO USED.
UM, LET'S SEE, ACTUALLY, THIS WAS PREVAILING.
WE, UM, RECEIVED A REPAYMENT PER AN AGREEMENT.
UM, SO THOSE FUNDS WILL, UH, GO TO DEFEASE DEBT.
SO WE HAVE A HIGHER DEFEASANCE, UM, SCHEDULED FOR
UM, BUT, YOU KNOW, ACTUALLY, SO THAT, THAT, UH, THE WHISPER VALLEY FUNDS WAS, WAS A TRANSFER IN THAT WE HAD ANTICIPATED, UM, THAT WE WOULD EXPAND AS PART OF THE DISEASE'S TRANSACTION FOUR OR 22.
BUT, BUT THAT SPEND DOWN IS, IS IT IS ACTUALLY RELATED TO THE, THE SECOND TRANSFER.
UM, RECALL LAST YEAR WE TRANSFERRED $5 MILLION OF CBC FUNDS, UM, YOU KNOW, FOR PAYMENT ASSISTANCE.
AND IN THE CURRENT YEAR, WE, UM, EARLIER IN THE YEAR WE COMMITTED ANOTHER 5 MILLION, UM, THAT WAS UNPLANNED.
AND SO THAT 5 MILLION IS DRIVING.
YOU CAN SEE THAT CBC TRANSFER OUT, WHICH IS ABOUT THE SIXTH OR SEVENTH LINE
[00:40:01]
DOWN, WE'VE ALREADY EXPENDED $5 MILLION OR EXPECT TO EXPEND $5 MILLION FOR THE YEAR.UM, BUT THAT WAS NOT IN BUDGET IT.
AND SO THAT'S DRIVING THAT DECLINE IN ENDING BALANCE.
UM, AND THEN JUST LIKE THE, UM, THE FINANCIAL STATUS REPORT, UH, WE HAVE, UH, INDIVIDUAL FUNDS SUMMARIES, UH, FOR THE WATER FUND STARTING ON PAGE 11 AND 12 ENDING ON 12, AND THEN WASTEWATER ON PAGE 13 AND 14.
UM, AND, AND YOU CAN SEE, UM, YOU KNOW, ON THE WASTEWATER SIDE WHERE WE ARE ANTICIPATING, UM, SPENDING DOWN A LITTLE BIT OF FUN BALANCE ON THE WASTEWATER SIDE OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS, AS YOU CAN SEE, UM, ON THE, THE BOTTOM OF PAGE 14, UM, THE NEGATIVE AMOUNTS IN TERMS OF AVAILABLE REVENUES OVER EXPENDITURES, UH, WHILE IT'S GOOD TO HAVE, UM, YOU KNOW, STRONG LEVELS OF RESERVE, UH, WE ALSO WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, THAT THEY'RE NOT TOO HIGH AND, AND THAT THERE'S NOT, YOU KNOW, A SENSE THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, OUR, OUR, OUR RATES ARE TOO HIGH IF, IF, IF WE'RE CONSISTENTLY ADDING TO, UM, OUR, OUR ENDING BALANCE.
AND THEN FINALLY, YOU KNOW, RECLAIMED, YOU KNOW, IN THE LAST TWO YEARS.
AND, AND FROM WHAT I POINT OUT FOR RECLAIMED IS, UM, IF YOU LOOK AT THE BOTTOM OF PAGE 15 IS, UH, THE, THE OVERALL LEVEL OF DEBT SERVICE FOR RECLAIMED, UM, IS, IS GOING TO BE INCREASING, YOU KNOW, THROUGHOUT THE FORECAST PERIOD FROM 4.6 MILLION LAST YEAR TO FIVE, FIVE AND A HALF MILLION, UH, FOR 22.
UM, BUT, BUT INCREASING, UM, YEAR OVER YEAR TO 8 MILLION IN FY 26, AND THAT'S GOING TO DRIVE, UM, ABSENT ANY OTHER CHANGES, UM, THAT'S GONNA DRIVE, UM, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING, SOME CONSTRAINTS SPENDING OR, OR CORE SUBSIDIES FROM, FROM A WATER FUND.
CAUSE WE REALLY VIEW RECLAIMED AS IT'S EXTENSION OF THE WATER FUND, UM, AND AS AN EXTENSION OF OUR WATER SUPPLY.
UM, SO TO THE EXTENT THAT WE'RE NOT ABLE TO BRING DOWN THAT LEVEL OF DEBT SERVICE, UH, OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS, UM, THERE MAY BE A NEED TO, UM, INCREASED, UM, YOU KNOW, THE TRANSFER AND, UH, TO RECLAIM FROM A WATER FUND.
AND, AND SO THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE, WE'RE, UM, WE'LL BE WATCHING OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS, YOU KNOW, IN TERMS OF, OF EACH INDIVIDUAL FUND, WE WOULD GENERALLY TEND TO LOOK AT THE SUNS AS, YOU KNOW, COMBINED AND AS A WHOLE, BUT, BUT IT'S ALSO REALLY IMPORTANT TO LOOK AT, UM, UM, AND UNDERSTAND WHAT'S GOING ON, UH, FOR THE FUNDS ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS.
AND THEN, SO THIS WILL GIVE YOU A SENSE OF WHERE WE THINK WE'RE GOING, UM, YANA, UH, OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS FOR, FOR THE INDIVIDUAL FUNDS IS ON THE PAGE SUPPORT TEAMS AND THAT'S WASTE WATER.
THE CBC TRANSFER OUT IS THAT TAYLOR, I MEAN, WHISPER VALLEY, NO, THE CBC TRANSFER OUT.
THAT'S THE COMMUNITY BENEFIT CHARGE.
THAT'S THE TRANSFER TO A FOUR PLUS ONE FUNDS, A PAYMENT ASSISTANCE FUNDS.
REMEMBER IT WAS 5 MILLION TOTAL.
IT WAS SPLIT TWO AND A HALF FOR WATER AND TWO AND A HALF MILLION FOR WASTEWATER.
AND DOES THAT ACCOUNT TAKE CARE OF ITSELF OR IS THAT PROGRAM GOING AWAY? UM, WE TRANSFER IN A NORMAL YEAR.
UM, TWO A YEAR FOR PLUS ONE PAYMENT SYSTEMS. UM, THE, THE 5 MILLION THAT WE TRANSFERRED IN
UM, BUT THE, THE INITIAL TRANSFER WE FUNDED STRAIGHT FROM CBC, UH, COMMUNITY BENEFIT CHARGE FUND BALANCE.
THIS ONE WE'RE ANTICIPATING TO COVER, UH, RIGHT NOW WITH OPERATING FUNDS, AS WE ASSESSED THE, THE IMPACT OF THE CHANGE, UM, TO OUR CA CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE PROGRAM THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, IS, IS PROVIDING A BENEFIT FOR MULTIFAMILY CUSTOMERS.
UM, AND, YOU KNOW, AS WE GET THAT PROGRAM UP AND RUNNING AND WE'RE BETTER ABLE TO ASSESS THE COST, THEN, YOU KNOW, WE'LL, WE'LL BE ABLE TO FIGURE OUT, DO I CHARGE 15 CENTS
[00:45:01]
PER THOUSAND GALLONS SUFFICIENT TO MAINTAIN ALL THE COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH OUR PROGRAM, OR, UM, DO WE NEED TO CHANGE THE RATE? AND SO, UM, SO THIS YEAR'S 5 MILLION.WE WE'VE INITIALLY TRANSFERRED FROM OPERATING, UM, UNTIL WE CAN ASSESS, UM, YOU KNOW, THE OVERALL IMPACT AND FINANCIAL STABILITY OF, OF THE COMMUNITY BENEFIT CHARGE FONDANT, AND THEN WHETHER OR NOT IT CAN CONTINUE TO WEATHER AT 15 CENTS, IT CAN COVER ALL THE, ON THE COST THAT WE ANTICIPATE OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS SO FAR ARIANE? UM, SO I THINK THAT BRINGS US TO ITEM NUMBER FOUR.
UM, AND THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE'VE DONE IN YEARS PAST IS PROVIDE, UM, AN UPDATE.
SO, UM, THAT SHOWS HOW THE FINANCIAL FORECAST COMPARED TO THE CURRENT BUDGET.
IN OTHER WORDS, WHERE DID WE SEE INCREASES, UM, IN PARTICULARLY FOR 22 IN TERMS OF THE FINANCIAL FORECAST, BUT THEN GIVE YOU, UM, A, UM, A SENSE OF WHAT CHANGES OCCURRED FROM FORECAST TO BUDGET SUBMITTAL, AND, AND FOR THIS ONE, UM, SUDDENLY IS VIEW, UM, I SEE THE TREND CONNECTED, UM, NOT KNOW IF YOU WANT TO WALK EVERYBODY THROUGH, UM, BUDGET OR TAKE DOCUMENT NUMBER FIVE, STARTING WITH PAGE PDF, PAGE 21 21 18.
UH, I HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU, UH, JOSEPH, SORRY ABOUT THAT.
UM, UH, WHEN, UH, WE WORKED WITH BLANCA AND ADDING, UM, UH, YEAH, THE REVENUE FORECAST TO, AS PART OF THE OVERALL FORECAST.
UM, SO WE CAN WALK THROUGH THOSE PAGES PRETTY QUICKLY.
IT'S JUST REALLY SHOWING, UM, ON PAGE, STARTING ON PAGE 18, PDF 18 OF DOCUMENT, UH, THREE, UH, IT'S JUST REALLY SHOWING, UM, THE INCREASE IN REVENUE OVER THOSE YEARS THAT, UM, AS PART OF THE FORECAST THAT, UH, JOSEPH JUST, UM, WENT OVER.
AND SO THIS IS JUST BREAKING DOWN THAT REVENUE PIECE FOR YOU BY CUSTOMER CLASSES.
AND SO, AS YOU CAN SEE, UM, BELOW THAT PROJECTED REVENUE FOR THE CUSTOMER CLASSES IS THE PROJECTED CONSUMPTION FOR THOSE REVENUE CLASSES.
SO WE ARE SEEING SOME, UM, INCREASED, UH, CONSUMPTION MAINLY IN SINGLE FAMILY, MULTIFAMILY AND COMMERCIAL, THOSE GRADUAL INCREASES.
AND SO, UM, THAT'S ALSO CONTRIBUTING TO THAT PROJECTED REVENUE.
AND THEN ROLLING UP INTO THAT FORECAST THAT JOSEPH PRESENTED, I WOULD JUST NOTE THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, THE, THE REVENUE FORECAST OR INDIVIDUAL REVENUE FORECAST.
SO THERE'S, THERE'S ONE WATER FORECAST IS STARTING ON 18, AS TINA SAID, WASTEWATER ON 19.
UM, BUT WE DON'T, UM, WE DON'T REALLY HAVE A DOCUMENT OTHER THAN THE, THE FORECAST ITSELF, THE FUN SUMMARY THAT, THAT COMBINES THE REVENUE FORECAST, BUT IT'S, IT'S THE DETAILS BEHIND WHAT'S DRIVING.
UM, THE, THE OVERALL FINANCIAL FORECAST, UM, YOU KNOW, BOTH FROM A REVENUE PERSPECTIVE, BUT ALSO FROM A CONSUMPTION PERSPECTIVE AND THE ASSUMPTIONS THAT WE'VE MADE, UH, BOTH FROM, YOU KNOW, TOTAL WATER CONSUMPTION OR WASTEWATER FLOWS AND HOW THAT BREAKS DOWN, YOU KNOW, SAY ON AN AVERAGE ACCOUNT BASIS.
UM, SO, UM, DO YOU HAVE ANY, ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT, UH, THE REVENUE FORECAST, SO DOCUMENTS, THE MAJORITY OF OUR WHOLESALE CUSTOMERS, UH, ARE THEY BUILT OUT OR THEY HAVE A POTENTIAL TO GROW WITH ALL THIS DEVELOPMENT? WELL, SO I, I GUESS I WOULD, UM, I WOULD LOOK AT IT, UM, YOU KNOW, FROM A MUD PERSPECTIVE, I THINK THAT, UH, THE MAJORITY OF, OF THE MUDS ARE BUILT OUT.
THERE MAY BE A FEW, UM, THAT HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF ROOM TO GROW.
I THINK THAT THE MODS ARE GOING TO BE FAIRLY STABLE.
UH, BUT AS YOU LOOK AT SOME OF OUR, UM, OUR OTHER CITY CUSTOMERS, UH, YOU KNOW, FOR EXAMPLE, MAINER, YOU KNOW, IS, IS, UM, THE CITY IN METROPOLITAN METROPOLITAN AREA GROWS OUT INTO THE SUBURBS.
UH, YOU KNOW, I THINK YOU MIGHT SEE, UM, YOU KNOW, SOME, SOME GROWTH IN, IN, YOU KNOW, PARTICULARLY MAINER, UM, PROBABLY NOT QUITE AS MUCH IN ENROLLING OR WESTLAKE.
[00:50:01]
UM, BUT, BUT GENERALLY SPEAKING, I THINK DINING IN SUNSET VALLEY IS, IS LANDLOCKED.SO, UM, I WOULDN'T EXPECT MUCH FROM THERE, UM, IS PROBABLY THE ONE EXCEPTION WHERE, UM, AND WHERE WE MIGHT CONTINUE TO SEE SOME, SOME SIGNIFICANT GROWTH.
ANYBODY ELSE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? THIS, THIS IS ROBERT GOOD AFTERNOON.
JUST WANT TO REMIND EVERYONE THAT, UM, SHADY HOLLOW IS OFFICIALLY A MUD.
AGAIN, I WENT BACK TO WHOLESALE, I THINK OF IN APRIL.
SO, UH, JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU AWARE OF THAT.
SO GOING FORWARD, SO, AND CONTINUING TO SHOW AS A WHOLESALE CUSTOMER.
UH, ROBERT, SO, UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK IN, IN 2018 WE HAD HAD AN AGREEMENT, UH, UM, TO TRANSITION SHADY HOLLOW FROM A WHOLESALE CUSTOMER TO OUTSIDE CITY RETAIL CUSTOMERS, AS WE PREPARED FOR FULL ANNEXATION IS AS YOU, UM, AS YOU MAY RECALL, LEGISLATION PASSED DURING, DURING THE LAST LEGISLATURE, UM, REQUIRED THAT, UM, THAT MUDS, UM, HAVING AN ELECTION, UH, YOU KNOW, BEFORE THEY CAN BE ANNEXED AND, UM, SHADY HOLLOW, UH, YOU KNOW, MADE IT CLEAR THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, THEY WOULD RATHER NOT BE THE ANNEX.
SO, UM, SO WE'VE BEEN, WE HAD WORKED OVER THE LAST, UH, UH, COUPLE OF YEARS TO KIND OF UNWIND, UM, THAT, THAT ANNEXATION AGREEMENT, UM, AND THAT CAME TO FRUITION EARLIER IN THE YEAR WITH A, UM, AN AGREEMENT, UM, YOU KNOW, A WHOLESALE CONTRACT, UM, THAT, THAT, YOU KNOW, SET RATES FOR THEM SET PARAMETERS, UH, FOR, FOR THE TRANSITION BACK.
UM, AND, AND SO THAT'S A GOOD REMINDER, UH, ROBERT, UH, YOU'LL SEE THEM, UH, YOU KNOW, IN TERMS OF OUR FIVE-YEAR FORECAST FROM A REVENUE PERSPECTIVE WHERE, UH, YOU KNOW, THEY WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN, UM, YOU KNOW, WHOLESALE CUSTOMER DURING LAST YEAR'S FORECAST AND BUDGETS MIDDLE PROCESS.
SO WE CAN MOVE ON TO THE NEXT SECTION.
AND, UM, SUDDENLY, UM, IF YOU DON'T MIND, YOU WANT TO, UM, NOW I THINK WE'RE READY TO TALK ABOUT, UH, THE KNOW, UM, THE RECONCILIATION AND THE WALKTHROUGH AT THE CHANGES FROM, UM, THE 21 BUDGET TO FORECAST, AND THEN, UM, AND THEN ULTIMATELY, YOU KNOW, KIND OF WHERE WE THINK WE'LL BE FROM A 22 BUDGET SUBMITTAL PERSPECTIVE, UH, STARTING ON PAGE 22.
SO MANY FLOYD WITH AUSTIN WATER AND THE SCHEDULE YOU ARE LOOKING AT IS A SHEA.
SOMETHING, UH, SHOULD BE PRETTY FAMILIAR TO YOU.
THIS IS A SCHEDULE THAT WE PRESENT, UH, EVERY YEAR.
UH, WE'VE BEEN DOING THIS FOR THE PAST FEW YEARS.
SO, UM, AS YOU CAN SEE, THIS IS THE TWO PART SCHEDULE.
THE FIRST PART, WE WILL FOCUS ON THAT, THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN F 22 FORECASTS AND F 21 BUDGET.
SO ESSENTIALLY WHAT WE HAVE INCLUDED AS ASSUMPTIONS FOR FYI 22 FORECASTS, BUT WE'LL START.
THE SCHEDULE IS JUST A QUICK OVERVIEW OF WHAT'S INCLUDED IN THE FII 21 BUDGET.
SO WITH THE TOTAL PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS, AS A REQUIREMENT, THAT SERVICES, AS WELL AS TRANSFER OUT, WE, UH, LANDED A TOTAL BUDGET FOR FY 21 AT 6 21 $0.3 MILLION.
AND AS A WOMAN, JUST SHOW YOU THE, UH, FUND SUMMARY STATES.
OUR TOTAL FYI 22 FORECAST FOR THE REQUIREMENT IS AT $648.7 MILLION.
SO THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THESE TWO FIGURES IS $27.3 MILLION.
SO THAT'S WHAT I'M GOING TO GO OVER AND WHAT'S CAUSING THE DIFFERENCES.
THE DIFFERENCES OF COURSE CAUSED BY THE ASSUMPTIONS THAT WE HAVE INCLUDED IN THE FORECAST.
PSP FREE TO ASK ANY QUESTIONS.
IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN ANY ONE OF THESE PARTICULAR ITEMS THAT I'M GOING TO.
[00:55:01]
SO, BUT THE ITEMS THAT'S, UH, ASHTRAY IS A BIG ONE IS BECAUSE, UH, WE HAVE IN, UH, INCLUDED $20 MILLION, UH, CASH, UH, DEFEASANCE.LISA, LISA IS COMING IN FROM THE, UM, KEPT THE RECOVERY SIGN FOR THERE'LL BE SEASONS.
AND THEN WE ALSO INCLUDED A $5 MILLION COMING FROM OPERATING FUNDS FOR DADDY SEASONS, AND THEN DEALING WITH THE FORECAST PERIOD.
WE HAVE INCLUDED A 14 YEAR OLD FTE, WHICH IS, COMES OUT TO BE ABOUT $4.5 MILLION, UM, THAT WE INCLUDED IN THE FORECAST AND THEN SHOT THE BUDGET OFFICE, HAVE DIRECTED US TO INCLUDE A 2% FORECAST AMOUNT FOR A WEEK ADJUSTMENT FOR CITY EMPLOYEES.
AND THAT'S ABOUT $2.2 MILLION.
AND THEN, UH, WE ALSO, UH, DOING A LITTLE LAYER ALIGNMENT WITH OUR PUBLIC WORKS BECAUSE, SO WE HAVE, UH, ONE OF THE TWO, SOME OF THE STREET STREETCAR IN HOUSE.
SO WE'VE ADDED THE $2.2 MILLION, 2.2, $5 MILLION IN THE FORECAST TO HELP SET UP ESTABLISH AND AUSTIN WATER TEAM TO START DOING SOME OF THE STREETCAR RELATED WORK, BUT IN ORDER TO, UM, OFFSET THE ADDITIONAL COST WAIVE DIRECTED TO THE OPERATING, UH, OPERATIONS GROUP TO TRY TO, UM, FIND $1 MILLION ELECTRIC SERVICES, UM, COSTS TO OFFSET THE AMOUNT.
THAT'S THE, BECAUSE FOR THE PAST FEW YEARS WE'VE BEEN DOING, WE, WE HAD SOME, UH, EFFICIENT, SOME, UH, ELECTRICITY EFFICIENCY, UH, TYPE OF PROJECTS THE PLANTS HAVE BEEN DOING.
AND SO THEY WILL HAVE ACHIEVED SOME SAVINGS, BUT WE HAVEN'T, UH, SAME TIME THEY DO CAUSE THEIR ELECTRIC COSTS THE BUDGET TO REFLECT THAT.
AND ALSO WE HAVEN'T SEEN COMPELLING TO THE ACTUAL COST.
THE BUDGET IS A BIT HIGHER THAN, UH, NEEDED.
SO THAT'S WHY WE HAVE ASKED FOR THEM TO REVEAL SOME OF THE ELECTRIC SERVICE COST TO OFFSET THE ADDITIONAL COST THAT WAS GOING TO SEEM AT A STATE COST.
AND THEN WE ALSO HAVE REACHED OUT DURING THE FORECAST, UH, SEASON TO EACH PROGRAM AREAS TO SEE THAT EITHER THEY CAN PROVIDE US ANY POTENTIAL SIGNIFICANT INCREASES THAT THEY ARE AWARE.
AND SO THIS IS $1.2 MILLION IS ESSENTIALLY SOME OF THE COSTS THAT THEY CAME UP WITH.
THAT INCLUDES, UH, SOME EQUIPMENT PARTS, COST, SOME, UM, CONTRACTUAL COSTS RELATED TO ELECTRICAL SERVICES, ELECTRICAL PARTS, AND THEN SOME BUILDING AND THE FACILITY MAINTENANCE COST.
IT'S ACTUALLY A LIST OF A LOT OF ITEMS AND THE WAY WE DIDN'T INCLUDE EVERYTHING, BUT WE DID INCLUDED A $1.2 MILLION IN THE FORECAST, UH, TO JUST MAKE SURE THAT THE, WE HAVE A BUDGET.
I MEAN, FORECAST IS ENOUGH TO COVER SOME OF THESE POTENTIAL INCREASES.
AND THEN, UH, WE HAD INCLUDED IN THE FORECAST, THE $1.2 MILLION FOR CHEMICAL THAT'S SUPPOSED TO DO TO NEW CHEMICALS THAT'S NEEDED AS WELL AS SOME OF THE CHEMICALS PRICE INCREASES.
AND THEN THERE'S SOME OF THE ITEMS THAT, UH, JOSEPH HAS MENTIONED EARLIER THAT INTERNAL, UH, INTER DEPARTMENTAL TRANSFERS.
SO WE HAVE INQUIRY INCLUDED A $0.7 MILLION FOR THE CITY ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT BUILDING THE FORECAST.
BUT AS I GO DOWN THE LIST, YOU CAN JUST SEE THAT SOME OF THESE COSTS ARE GOING TO INCREASE.
WE DID NOT BUDGET ENOUGH TO COVER THE INCREASES.
AND TRADITIONALLY WE ALWAYS BUDGETED, UH, FOR SOME GENERAL INFLATION AND THIS YEAR WE BUDGETED A 1% TO COVER SOME OF THOSE ADDITIONAL COMMODITY IN CONTRAPTION INCREASE.
SO WE FEEL LIKE, WELL, FOR CS, THAT'S CALMING FOR ME, UM, AT LIKE 12 TO TWO.
AND THEN, THEN THE NEXT ONE IS AGAIN, ANOTHER TRANSFER.
THAT'S A CPM SUPPORT TRANSFER, WHICH BOOK FORECAST WE INCLUDED $4.4 MILLION INCREASE.
AND NEXT ONE IS, UH, ONE OF THE, UH, NEW PROJECTS THAT WE HAVE
[01:00:01]
PROJECTED TO GO ON FOR F 22, WHICH IS A MULTI-SENSOR INSPECTION, UH, LARGE DIAMETER DOMAIN.UH, YOU, AGAIN, WE'LL SEE, AS I GO DOWN THE LIST THAT THIS CAUGHT US, WE INCLUDED, UH, DEALING WITH THE BUDGET, UH, DEVELOPMENT PROCESS.
THE AMOUNT HAS TO BE INCREASED.
SO, UH, PLEASE FEEL THE MAINTENANCE IS A STANDOUT AMOUNT THAT WE RECEIVE FROM, UH, CD BUDGET OFTEN FOR FORECASTS.
THEY TOLD US TO IMPROVE $0.3 MILLION INCREASE, UH, FOR THE, FOR THE INCOMING FISCAL YEAR.
SO, UM, NEXT ONE IS OKAY, THAT WAS TRICKY BECAUSE, UH, BECAUSE WE ARE COMPARING THE FORECAST TO THE AMENDED, THE BUDGET, AND WE INCLUDED $5 MILLION COMMUNITY BENEFIT CHARGE FOR THE PRICE ONE PROGRAM IN F Y 21.
SO FOR TOMMY TO FORECAST THE WAY SHE HAD TO BACK TO THAT AMOUNT BACK OUT AND ZAN WHEEL, SO HAVE FOCUSED TO THE, UH, SMALLER GUEST SERVICE REQUIREMENT COMPARED TO FYI, UH, 21, THE BUDGET.
UH, WE ALSO HAD TO FORECAST THE SMALLER AMOUNT FOR BEING TRANSFERRED TO WATER AND THE WASTEWATER CIP FUND.
AND FOR GENERAL FUND TRANSFER, WE FORECAST THE BUSINESS LESS THAN A $21.6 MILLION DECREASE, BUT I THINK WE PUT SOME BACK, UH, AS A WAY COME TO THE BUDGET DEVELOPMENT, AND THEN WE EITHER RECEIVE A SMALLER AMOUNT OF TRANSFER FROM, UH, A, UH, ENTITY FOR YOUR, TO BE NEW SYSTEMS SUPPORT.
SO WE FORECAST A $0.5 MILLION DECREASE, AND THEN THE LAST ONE IS AS STRAIGHT, UH, TRANSFERRED TO LAKELAND, WHY TO FIND WELL.
SO FORECAST TO THE $0.3 MILLION DECREASE COMPARED TO F I 21.
I KNOW THESE ARE JUST A LOT OF NUMBERS AND, UM, WE JUST WANTED TO LIST OUT THESE ARE MAJOR ASSUMPTIONS.
SO, UM, YOU WILL KNOW ABOUT HOW WE COME UP WITH THE FORECAST AMOUNT.
SO TOTAL FORECAST ASSUMPTIONS, WE, WE LISTED OUT HERE IS $27.4 MILLION.
AND IS THAT YOU ESSENTIALLY IS THE SAME AMOUNT THAT YOU WILL SEE IT BETWEEN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN F 22 FORECAST AND THE FII 21 BUDGET SO THAT THESE ARE ALL THE CONTRIBUTORS AND THE FACTORS THAT WENT INTO THE FORECAST.
SO THEY HAVE THE, ESSENTIALLY THE DRIVERS THAT DRIVE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE FORECAST AND THE BUDGET FOR LAST YEAR.
ANY QUESTIONS I'LL STOP HERE? HOW MUCH, I GUESS WE'RE DEDUCTING IT BY HALF A MILLION, HOW MUCH DO WE PAY ANNUALLY FOR UTILITY BILLING SUPPORT? YOU CAN EVEN CONVENIENCE SUPPORT AND YOU BUDGET.
I HAD TO PULL UP A 19 MINUTE, UH, 19.8, 4 21 BUDGET.
SO WE HAD, WE HAD, UH, A WAY OF FOCUSING A SLIGHT DIFFERENCE OF HALF MILLION DOLLARS THE CHUNK.
UM, AND THEN HOW MUCH ARE WE, WE'RE REDUCING, UH, CIP FUND BY A MILLION TEMPE.
YEAH, THAT'S A TRANSFER TO ESSENTIALLY CASH PAY, PAYING THE CIP.
SO THAT'S A TRANSFER FROM, UH, OPERATING FUNDS SO WE CAN CATCH FROM THE CIP.
WE DECREASED THAT BY 1 MILLION AND, AND I THINK, UM, IT'S JOSEPH GONZALES AGAIN.
UM, I THINK THE, THE BULK OF THAT IS ON THE WASTEWATER SIDE, UM, ON, ON THE WASTEWATER SIDE, UH, YOU KNOW, WE'VE HAD A NUMBER OF PROJECTS THAT HAVE RUN THROUGH YOUR, UH, TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD LOAN PROGRAMS. UM, AND YOU KNOW, WE, WE ALSO HAVE A NUMBER OF PROJECTS AS WE, UM, AS WE SAID FOR THE CAPITAL RECOVERY FEE RATES, THEY ASSUME CERTAIN LEVELS OF, UM, UM, DEBT FUNDING VERSUS CASH FUNDING.
AND SO ON THE, ON THE WASTEWATER SIDE, UH, WE WE'VE HAD A BIGGER BALANCE, UM, IN, IN TERMS OF OUR WASTEWATER CIP CASH, UM, THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, JUST BECAUSE OF THE, THE, THE FUNDING REQUIREMENTS, UH, WE, WE HAVEN'T FULLY ALLOCATED TO TWO SPECIFIC
[01:05:01]
PROJECTS.SO WE'VE, YOU KNOW, STARTED TO SLOW THE, THE TRANSFERS, UH, FROM OPERATING TO WASTEWATER SKYPE.
HE'S NOT IN, SO THAT'S PRIMARILY ON THE WASTEWATER SIDE, IT WAS JUST TO REFLECT, UH, YOU KNOW, THAT WE'VE GOT ABOUT IT, A $20 MILLION BALANCES OF WASTEWATER CIP CASH, UM, THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, WHERE WE'RE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT EXACTLY HOW WE WANT TO USE IT.
WE KNOW WE'VE GOT, UM, YOU KNOW, A SIGNIFICANT, UM, PROJECT, UH, FOR WALNUT CREEK EXPANSION.
AND SO, UH, WE WE'VE TALKED ABOUT POTENTIALLY SETTING ASIDE SOME OF THAT CASH TO, UM, TO REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF DEBT, A SERVICE THAT WOULD BE, UM, THAT WOULD BE REQUIRED FOR, UM, FOR, FOR THAT PROJECT OR TRYING TO FIND OTHER PROJECTS THAT, UH, WE CAN USE THAT CASH FOR.
BUT, UH, THAT REDUCTION IS PRIMARILY BECAUSE WE REALLY JUST DON'T NEED TO TRANSFER AS MUCH, UM, TO THE WASTEWATER FUND BELTS HAVE QUESTIONS BEFORE WE MOVE FORWARD.
IF NO MORE QUESTIONS, UH, I WILL MOVE ON TO THE SECOND PIECE OF THE, UM, THE CATCH-ALL, WHICH SECOND PIECE IS THAT, OF COURSE, WE'VE GONE THROUGH THE BUDGET DEVELOPMENT.
UH, AFTER THE FORECAST, WE HAVE A SHAPE FINISHED IN THE BUDGET DEVELOPMENT PHASE FOR THE F BY 22 BUDGET.
SO, UH, WE SUBMITTED OUR BUDGET SUBMITTED EARLY MAY, AND THEN THE TOTAL AMOUNT, AS YOU CAN SEE HERE THAT WE HAVE SUBMITTED IS SIX YEARS, 53.9, 654 ASTRAY MILLION DOLLAR.
SO, UM, COMPARED TO THE FORECAST AMOUNT OF 648.7, UH, THIS IS AN ADDITIONAL AMOUNT OF $5.3 MILLION THAT WE HAVE PROPOSED.
SO NEXT LIST, OR TELL US WHAT, UM, WHAT'S INCLUDED THAT DRUG DRUG DRIVE, UH, CHANGES.
SO THE LARGEST AMOUNT YOU SEE HERE, WOULD IT BE THAT TRANSFER AGAIN, IT'S ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS THAT WE BUDGETED FOR 12 TO TWO AND A, UM, AGAIN, IT'S COMING FROM THE CAPITAL RECOVERY FEE.
SO ANOTHER $5 MILLION THAT WE HAVE BUDGETED.
AND THEN HERE, YOU SEE THAT WE JUST ASK, ASK A QUESTION ABOUT TRANSFERS TO WATER AND WASTEWATER CIP TIME, BUT THE ONLY IN THE BUDGET DEVELOPMENT, WE ACTUALLY MOVED THE AMOUNT BACK UP.
UH, IT WAS A DECREASE OF $1 MILLION.
WE ACTUALLY MOVE IT BACK UP, UH, FOR $4 MILLION.
SO THE NET, I BELIEVE WOULD BE PROBABLY THREE, RIGHT? AND THIS INCREASE WOULD HAVE BEEN LARGELY FOCUSED ON THE WATER SIDE, UM, WHERE WE HAVEN'T, PERCENTAGE-WISE BEEN TRANSFERRING QUITE AS MUCH AS WE HAVE, HAVE BEEN ON THE WASTEWATER SIDE.
AND ALSO THAT, UH, WE HAVE HIM CREATE THE NEW FP HE PROPOSED IN USDE TO A NADA, UH, 22.
UH, SO EARLIER IT WAS FOR THE SILHOUETTE.
I SHOULD TOTAL PROPOSED A USP IS AT 62, AND THAT WAS THE 22 HERE, MOSTLY BECAUSE THE HANDLE THEM IS THAT WAY.
I TRY TO BRING IN SOME OF THE SECURITY GUARD FUNCTIONS, IN-HOUSE, THAT'S A COUNCIL DIRECTIONS, UH, UH, THAT WE HAD TO FOLLOW.
AND THEN ANOTHER, THE 12 IS MOSTLY FOCUSED ON THE BUSINESS RESILIENCE, THE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT, AND DECISION-MAKING SO, UH, TO, TO, UH, TO, UH, ENHANCE THE DECISION MAKING PROCESS.
SO, UM, AND THEN WE DID NOT FORECAST OF STILL IN THE FORECAST FORECAST.
OF COURSE, A LOT OF THEM IS TOP DOWN.
SO BUILDING THE FULL COUNCIL, WE DIDN'T, UM, BUT WE DIDN'T FORECAST ANY FOR TEMPORARY INCREASE, BUT BUILDING THE BUDGET DEVELOPMENT LOAN PROCESS, IT'S ACTUALLY ABOUT A MONTH PROCESS.
SO, UH, EACH PROGRAM AREAS, DIVISIONS HAVE INCLUDED $1.4 MILLION MORE FOR THEIR TEMPORARY EMPLOYEE NEEDS.
AND THEN HERE IS ONE OF THE ITEMS, UH,
[01:10:01]
THAT'S, UH, TRANSFER OUT.THIS IS A TRANSFER OUT TO THE, UM, CPM THAT'S, UH, THAT'S A CAPITAL PROGRAM MANAGEMENT, UH, DEPARTMENTS.
SO THEY, UM, HAVE ASKED US TO BUDGET FOR AT $1.1 MILLION ADDITIONAL FOR THE TRANSPORT.
AND THEN, UM, WE ALSO, UH, WOULD BE BUDGET.
WE, WE, WE, WE BUDGETED, WE FORECASTED THIS FLAT LIKE
AND THERE'S THEN A WAY LET'S SEE SOME INFORMATION FROM US VANITY, UH, DUE TO THE PAST YEAR AND A HALF A PANDEMIC ENVIRONMENT.
THEY WERE SEEING AN INCREASE IN BAD DEBT EXPENSE.
SO THEY TOLD US TO, BUT YOUR $0.7 MILLION MORE FOR BAD DEBT EXPENSES.
AND WE ALSO, UM, UH, HAD SOME ADJUSTMENTS FOR THE REVENUE SO THAT THESE OUT, IN THAT WAY, UH, LATE CALCULATION OF GENERAL FUND TRANSFER.
SO EARLIER I THINK THAT I WAS SAYING IT WAS A DECREASE, SO $0.6 MILLION.
SO WE PULLED BACK A $0.5 MILLION AFTER THE LITTLE CALCULATION.
SO JENNIFER ESSENTIALLY STAY THE PICKET SLIDE COMPARING TO FYI 21, A BUDGET.
SO AT A MISTAKE, IT WILL SUPPORT, AGAIN, WE BUDGETED A LITTLE BIT EARLIER, UM, I MEAN, FORECAST EARLIER, BUT THE ACTUAL AMOUNTS, UH, THE BUDGET OFFICE GAVE US IS ANOTHER ADDITIONAL $0.5 MILLION THAT WE HAD TO INCLUDE.
AND I MENTIONED THIS ONE EARLIER AS WELL, IT'S, UH, A MULTISENSORY INSPECTION, OR LIKE DAMMIT THE MAIN WAY FORECAST $2.4 MILLION.
BUT WHEN WE ACTUALLY SIGNED THE CONTRACT AIDS WAS, UH, 0.4 MILLION MORE.
SO WE HAD TO INCLUDE THAT IN THE BUDGET AND THE WAY ALSO, I'M SEEING A BIT OF INCREASE IN $4.3 MILLION FOR THE INSURANCE, UH, ESSENTIALLY CDS ARE GOING OUT FOR NEW BEDS FOR THEIR OVERALL GENERAL INSURANCE.
AND SO WE WERE TOLD TO INCREASE THAT AMOUNT.
A LOT OF THESE CHANGES THAT YOU SEE, UM, ACTUALLY, UM, EXTERNAL DRUG DROVE.
AND SO A LOT OF THESE INTERIM DEPARTMENT OF FUND TRANSFERS, THESE ARE THE DIRECTIONS COME FROM THE BUDGET OFFICE OR COME FROM THAT, UH, THE AMOUNT OF INCREASE COME FROM OTHER DEPARTMENTS.
AND THEN, UM, STAFF LIKE A CITY GENERAL INSURANCE COVERAGE, YOU WAKE US TO HAVE TO, UM, BUDGET WHAT TO THE RISK MANAGEMENT GROUP TOLD US TO BUDGET.
AGAIN, WE INCLUDED IT A LITTLE BIT EARLIER.
LET ME SEE, UM, THINKING SUPPORT.
WE, UH, WE INCLUDED $8.4 MILLION BUILDING FORECAST, BUT THEY TOLD US TO INCREASE IT ANOTHER TWO.
I GET PAID, UH, DOING THE BUCKET DEVELOPMENT PHASE.
SO IT HAD TO INCREASE THE AMOUNT AND THE SAME THING FOR CHEMICAL, UH, CHEMICALS THAT'S COME FROM INTERNAL.
SO THE ONLY THE BUDGET DEVELOPMENT, UH, UH, PLANTS, UH, AND THE ENGINEERING GROUP, UH, DECIDED THEY, WE NEED TO INCLUDE INCREASED FORECAST AMOUNTS BY 200 PAINTS.
SO THEY'RE SUBJECT TO REQUIREMENTS.
UM, I MIGHT HAVE TO ASK THE PINATA TO, TO EXPLAIN, WAIT, WE COMPARED TO LAST YEAR'S.
UH, BUT YEAH, WE ACTUALLY HAD TO, UH, DECREASE THE AMOUNT BY $9 MILLION.
I DON'T THINK WE INCLUDED ANY BUILDING THE FULL HALF OR YES, ACTUALLY, NO, WE INCLUDED $3 MILLION DURING FORECAST AND THEN WE HAD TO DECREASE THEM MORE BY $9 MILLION.
TINA, DO YOU WANT TO EXPLAIN THIS NUMBER A BIT? ACTUALLY, THIS IS JOSEPH.
UM, THIS IS ONE OF THOSE AREAS WHERE, WHERE WE ANTICIPATE USING, UM, SOME OF THE EXCESS FUND BALANCE THAT WE'VE RECEIVED.
UM, I MENTIONED EARLIER THAT WE HAD PLANNED THE DEFEASANCE TRANSACTION THAT WE HAD PLANNED FOR THE, UH, FOR FYI 21 FOR THE CURRENT YEAR.
UH, NORMALLY WE DO THOSE DIFFUSERS TRANSACTIONS IN, IN, IN APRIL OR SO, OR, YOU KNOW, BY THE END OF APRIL SO THAT WE CAN INCORPORATE THEM IN OUR BUDGET PROCESS.
UM, BUT BECAUSE MARKET INTEREST RATES ARE, ARE VERY, VERY LOW.
[01:15:01]
YOU KNOW, WE, UM, DECIDED TO PUSH IT OFF UNTIL THE FALL, UM, CLOSER TO WHEN WE'VE GOT, UM, SOME, SOME BONDS THAT ARE ARE CALLABLE.UM, AND, AND SO BY CHANGING THE TIMING, WE'RE ABLE TO, UM, STILL THE FEES ARE ROUGHLY THE SAME AMOUNT OF DEBT, BUT WE DON'T HAVE TO, UM, TO PUT AS MUCH CASH INTO AN ESCROW ACCOUNT TO, TO, YOU KNOW, TO, TO PAY OFF THOSE CALLED THE LAWNS.
UM, AND AS A RESULT, YOU KNOW, JUST BY WANING, THE, THE DEFEASANCE TRANSACTION WILL BE MORE EFFICIENT.
IN OTHER WORDS, IT'LL, UM, FOR THE SAME AMOUNT OF MONEY WE CAN, UH, WE'LL SAVE MORE MONEY.
SO WE HAD HAD A $35 MILLION DEFEASANCE TRANSACTION PLAN FOR THE CURRENT YEAR.
UH, WE, WE PUSHED IT, WE'RE PUSHING IT OFF UNTIL THE FALL.
UM, BUT YOU KNOW, WE DID IDENTIFY A WAY TO, UM, TO TAKE SOME OF THE EXCESS CASH BALANCE BECAUSE THE PROBLEM WITH THAT IS THE PROBLEM WITH PUSHING OFF AND FREEZES TRANSACTION IS, UM, WE DON'T SEE THE IMPACT FROM A DEBT SERVICE BUDGET PERSPECTIVE UNTIL THE DEFEASANCE ACTUALLY OCCURRED.
UM, AND SO THAT WAS, UH, RESULTING IN A LITTLE BIT LOWER, UM, THAT SERVICE COVERAGE AND WHERE, WHERE WE WERE LIKE IN THE 180 2 RANGE AND IN TERMS OF THE FORECAST, UM, BECAUSE THE DEFEASANCE TRANSACTION DIDN'T HAPPEN AND WE WEREN'T ABLE TO INCORPORATE IT IN THE BUDGET PROCESS.
UM, IT ACTUALLY BROUGHT DOWN OUR OVERALL LEVEL OF DEBT SERVICE COVERAGE ON A BUDGET BASIS, UM, INTO THE 1, 1 6, 2 1 6 4 RANGE.
UM, CAUSE WE CAN'T, WE CAN'T TAKE CREDIT FOR THE FEES UNTIL IT ACTUALLY HAPPENS.
UH, BUT WE DID FIGURE OUT A WAY TO USE THAT EXCESS CASH BALANCE.
AND ESSENTIALLY PRE-FUND SOME OF OUR DEBT SERVICE REQUIREMENTS THAT ARE GOING TO BE DUE FOR, FOR THOSE NOVEMBER DEBT SERVICE PAYMENTS.
SO, UM, SO WE'RE MAKING, YOU KNOW, THE TRANSFER THAT WE WOULD NORMALLY MAKE IN OCTOBER.
UM, THAT'S AROUND 15 MILLION PLUS WE ADDED ANOTHER 5 MILLION, UM, THAT WE'RE GOING TO DO IN THE CURRENT YEAR.
UM, SO WE'RE GOING TO PAY AN EXTRA $20 MILLION THIS YEAR, UM, WHICH, AND WE'VE GOT BUDGET AUTHORITY TO DO BECAUSE WE'RE NOT DOING THE $30 MILLION, UM, THE PATIENTS IN THE CURRENT YEAR.
AND, AND SO THAT RESULTS IN, UM, PRE-FUNDING THOSE DEBT SERVICE REQUIREMENTS.
WE'RE ABLE TO PULL DOWN A DEBT SERVICE REQUIREMENTS FOR NEXT YEAR IN A WAY THAT, UM, THAT ALLOWS US TO, TO, TO BUDGET IN THE 1 7 5 1 7 8 RANGE, UM, FOR DEBT SERVICE COVERAGE, UM, AND, AND KEEP OUR FINANCIAL METRICS ROUGHLY IN LINE WHERE WE WANT TO BE.
AND THEN WE'LL STILL DO THE PHASES TRANSACTION IN THE FALL.
WE'LL PULL DOWN, WE MAY NOT NEED TO PULL DOWN MUCH MORE IN FYI 22 BECAUSE OF THE PRE-FUNDING THAT WE'RE DOING NOW IN THE CURRENT YEAR.
UM, BUT IT ALLOW US TO BETTER TARGET FYI 23 AND 24 IN ADVANCE OF OUR, UM, OUR POTENTIAL, YOU KNOW, RATE INCREASE IN FY 24.
SO THAT'S WHY YOU SEE A BIG DROP HERE.
AND THAT WAS, YOU KNOW, BASICALLY JUST ANOTHER TOOL THAT WE'VE IDENTIFIED, YOU KNOW, IN ORDER TO MANAGE OUR DEBT SERVICE REQUIREMENTS, GET TO WHERE WE NEED THEM TO BE, SO THAT WE CAN AGAIN MANAGE, UH, YOUR DEBT SERVICE COVERAGE.
AGAIN, YOU KNOW, WE DON'T WANT OUR, YOU KNOW, WE WANT TO HAVE A STRONG LEVEL OF DEBT SERVICE COVERAGE, WHAT WE WANT TO DO IT IN A WAY THAT ISN'T SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACTING RATES.
AND SO, SO NOW WE'VE GOT ANOTHER TOOL IN OUR BELT TO, TO DO THAT.
AND, AND THAT'S WHAT, UH, THAT'S WHY YOU SEE THAT BIG DECREASE IN DEBT SERVICE REQUIREMENTS.
SO THE NEXT KIND OF YOU SEE HEALTH INSURANCE SAVING, UM, YOU SEEM TO CDS ACTUALLY HAS BEEN DOING QUITE WELL THE PAST A FEW YEARS, UM, FOR HEALTH INSURANCE COST.
SO WE'VE SEEN SOME SAVINGS ACTUALLY IN FYI CURRENT YEAR AS WELL.
SO FOR, I MEAN, IT'S, LIKE I SAID, 21.
SO, UM, FOR NEXT YEAR FOR, I TOLD ME TO WAIT, DO NOT SEE AS A BIG SAVING, BUT AS THEY DO TO TELL US TO BUDGET FOR A $2 MILLION DECREASE.
SO, UM, THAT $2 MILLION DECREASE IS COMPUTING TO THE, UH, ORIGINAL BUDGET AMOUNT FOR CALENDAR YEAR 21.
[01:20:01]
FOR BOTH YEARS, WE'LL SEE SOME DECREASES FOR HEALTH INSURANCE.AND THEN, UM, EARLIER I MENTIONED THAT THE WAY, UH, UNDER CITY COUNCIL'S DIRECTION TO BRING, UH, SOME OF THE SECURITY GUARD FUNCTIONS IN-HOUSE AND BECAUSE OF THAT, THE SERVICES FOR SECURITY SERVICES, OR WOULD IT BE, UM, UH, LESS OF THAN WHAT WE HAVE EXPECTED.
AND, UH, WE WILL SEE A BIT OF SAVING HERE OF 300 K AND THEN OUR
AND, UH, THE DIVISION HAS PROPOSED A $0.3 MILLION DECREASE ON THEIR BUDGET FOR 20 TO, UH, AND THIS IS BUILDING THE FORECAST, A LOT OF THE NUMBERS, AGAIN, LIKE WHAT I SAY IS TOP IT DOWN AND, UH, ESTIMATE.
SO, UH, WHEN WE WERE DIRECTED BY BUDGET OFFICE TO INCLUDE 2.2% PER WEEK ADJUSTMENTS, THE AMOUNT CAME TO BE ABOUT 2.2 DURING THE FORECAST, BUT WHEN THEY ACTUALLY POPULATED THE PERCENTAGE INCREASE IN E-COMMERCE, IT RESULTED IN $2 MILLION.
SO THAT'S A $200,000 DECREASE.
NOW THIS IS, I KNOW A LONG LIST OF NUMBERS.
AND, UH, UM, EVEN THOUGH YOU SEE THAT THE, THE, THE NET CHANGE IS $5.3 MILLION, BUT YOU, YOU WILL, YOU SEE A LOT OF THE INS AND OUTS THAT, THAT, UH, RESULTED IN THAT NUMBER.
AND WE'VE, WE LISTED A LONG LIST OF NUMBER CHANGES HERE THAT'S BECAUSE WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE'S NO SURPRISES, ESSENTIALLY THIS, THIS, THESE TWO LISTS IS EVERYTHING THAT'S CHANGING IN OUR BUDGET COMPARED TO FYI CAN DO ONE.
SO, UM, WE LISTED ALL THE OWNERS THAT DRIVERS ALL OF THE SIGNIFICANT CHANGES.
SO, UM, JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE WE HAVE THE TRANSPARENCY AND THE WAY WE HAVE WE PRESENT OH, OH, OH, NECESSARY INFORMATION TO, UH, THE COMMISSION.
SO, AND THE ONLY OTHER THING THAT I WOULD ADD, UM, IS, YOU KNOW, AND SOMEBODY POINTED THIS OUT, UM, YOU KNOW, THE, THE ADDITIONAL 5 MILLION, UH, FOR, FOR DEFEASANCE, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'VE BEEN DOING ABOUT 30 TO 35 MILLION A YEAR AND THE, AND THE BUDGET AMOUNT FOR THE CURRENT YEAR WAS $30 MILLION FROM, UH, CRF REVENUE TO, UH, TO DEFEASANCE PLUS THE 5 MILLION, UM, WHISPER VALLEY FUNDS.
SO FOR A TOTAL OF 35, UH, BUT WHEN WE DID THE FORECAST, UM, YOU KNOW, WE, WE FELT LIKE WE, WE ONLY NEEDED ABOUT 55 MILLION COMBINED FOR NEXT YEAR.
SO THE 30 MILLION, WE HAD ALREADY BEEN FORECASTING, UH, PLUS 25 MILLION INSTEAD OF THE, UM, THE 35 MILLION.
AND, AND WE JUST DECIDED, YOU KNOW, ONCE SOME OF THE INCREASES CAME IN THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, WE, WE PROBABLY WANTED TO BUMP IT UP SO THAT WE WERE STILL, UM, IN, IN THE $30 MILLION RANGE.
SO, YOU KNOW, WE'LL, WE'RE, WE'RE PLANNING TO HAVE $30 MILLION DISEASES, UM, IN THE FALL IN OCTOBER.
UM, AND THEN ANOTHER, YOU KNOW, NORMAL THE SEASONS IN THE SPRING OF 30 MILLION.
SO WE BUMPED IT UP TO 60 MILLION TOTAL FROM THE 55 MILLION THAT WE HAD INITIALLY INCLUDED IN OUR FORECAST.
UM, BUT THE REASON THAT I POINT THAT OUT IS, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, THAT'S, THAT'S, UM, EXTRA 5 MILLION IS BASED ON FUNDING FROM CAPITAL, UH, RECOVERY FEES.
EVERYTHING ELSE ON THE LIST IS COMING FROM, FROM, YOU KNOW, OUR OPERATING REVENUES.
SO IF YOU BACK OUT THAT $5 MILLION, YOU KNOW, IN TOTAL, THE CHANGES SINCE FORECAST, UH, WOULD BE $3 MILLION THAT ARE ATTRIBUTABLE TO OPERATING REVENUE.
AND 5 MILLION IS COMING FROM THE AVAILABLE BALANCE AND ANTICIPATED REVENUES THAT WE GET FROM, FROM CAPITAL RECOVERY FEES.
SO EVERYTHING ELSE, UM, IS, IS, IS KIND OF MORE OR LESS BREAKEVEN, UM, BECAUSE, UH, AGAIN, THE CAPITAL COVERS THESE IT'S NOT OPERATING FUNDS, IT'S, UH, FUNDS THAT WERE, WERE GETTING IN FROM DEVELOPMENT FUNDS THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN COLLECTED AND ARE AVAILABLE, UH, YOU KNOW, FOR USE TO, TO DIS-EASE.
UM, SO ALL IN ALL, IF YOU PULL THAT OUT WHERE MORE OR LESS, UH, WHERE WE HAD INTENDED TO BE, UM, ALTHOUGH THERE'S CHANGES IN, IN, IN ALL OF THESE LINE ITEMS, THEY ALL MORE OR LESS
[01:25:01]
OFFSET MAKES SENSE TO ME.DOES ANYBODY HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE CHANGES IN QUIET GROUP TODAY? I DON'T KNOW IF EVERYBODY IS ASLEEP OR EVERYBODY GETS IT.
UM, AND I, DO WE HAVE A HARD STOP AT FOUR? NO, MA'AM, UH, NO.
MA'AM, UH, IF, IF A STAFF NEED ADDITIONAL TIME, UH, THERE'S ADDITIONAL TIME ALLOTTED, THE HARD STOP IS AT FIVE.
I DON'T THINK WE'LL LEAVE IT THOUGH.
I THINK WE'VE ONLY GOT ONE MORE, ONE MORE PAGE TO GO OVER.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE DO WANT TO TALK ABOUT THE SCHEDULE MOVING FORWARD, BUT, UH, I THINK WE CAN GO THROUGH THE LAST PAGE FAIRLY QUICKLY TO GO OVER IT.
UM, WELL THAT BRINGS US TO, UM, TO OUR DEBT SERVICE COVERAGE REQUIREMENTS.
UM, YOUR TINA, DO YOU, DO YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT THIS ONE? SURE.
I CAN TALK ABOUT THIS ONE IN AURORA.
UM, SO THIS, UM, DOCUMENTS SIX THAT YOU WILL BE LOOKING AT IS, UM, THE DEBT MANAGEMENT PLAN SUMMARY.
AND SO WHAT WE'RE SHOWING YOU HERE REALLY, UM, IS JUST THE SAVINGS THAT WE'VE, UH, ACCUMULATED FROM DEFEASANCE TRANSACTIONS SINCE 2016 AND REFUNDINGS, UM, SINCE 2015.
AND SO, UH, IF YOU LOOK THE FIRST, UH, THREE COLUMNS IS SHOWING THE SOURCES OF THE FUNDS IN ORDER TO DO THE DEFEASANCE IS IN THE REFUNDINGS.
AND THEN AFTER THAT IS THE FISCAL YEAR IMPACTS WHERE YOU'RE GOING TO SEE THE SAVINGS OCCUR BETWEEN DEFEASANCE AND REFUNDINGS.
AND THEN AT THE VERY END, YOU'LL SEE THERE'S TOTALS FOR DEFEASANCE SAVINGS AND, UM, PRESENT VALUE SAVINGS AS WELL FOR DEFEASANCE IS AND REFUNDINGS.
THE GRAPH BELOW, UH, REPRESENTS, UH, THOSE SAVINGS.
UM, AS FAR AS, UH, IN 2016, UH, WE WERE PROJECTING HIGHER DEBT SERVICE REQUIREMENTS THAN WE ARE NOW.
SO WHAT THIS REPRESENTS IS THOSE DEBT SERVICE REQUIREMENTS AS OF 2016.
AND YOU'LL SEE THE REDUCTION IS, UM, THE GREEN, UH, PORTION OF THE GRAPH, UH, AND THE 2016 REQUIREMENTS, UH, IS THE LINE PORTION OF THE GRAPH.
THE BLUE PORTION IS THE CURRENT DEBT SERVICE REQUIREMENTS.
THAT'S WHAT WE CURRENTLY HAVE THAT WE'VE ALREADY HAD, IS ACTUAL, OR WE HAVE IS FORECASTED THERE.
SO YOU SEE WE'D REALLY DONE SOME GREAT DEBT MANAGEMENT EFFORTS IN ORDER TO HELP OUR OVERALL OPERATING BUDGET.
WE'VE ATTRIBUTED OVER, UM, ALMOST $200 MILLION IN SAVINGS TO DEFEAT SENSES AND ALMOST 300 MILLION IN TOTAL WITH COMBINED REFUNDING.
SO THAT IS SIGNIFICANT SAVINGS FOR THE UTILITY, UM, WHICH, UH, PUTS US IN A GOOD FINANCIAL POSITION THAT WE WERE ABLE TO HAVE 0% INCREASES FOR SO MANY YEARS.
AND THEN OUR NEXT, UH, FORECASTED INCREASED AND 2024, WHICH IS ALSO JUST A VERY MINIMAL INCREASE, UH, AS JOSEPH MENTIONED FOR ALMOST LIKE INFLATIONARY PURPOSES.
NOW, I DON'T KNOW IF ANYBODY WANTS TO, IF JOSEPH, IF CHIME IN, IF YOU WANT TO ADD ANYTHING ELSE TO THIS.
UM, BUT WE, UM, TAKE GREAT INTO OUR DEBT MANAGEMENT PLAN.
AND THIS IS WHY WE WANTED TO PRESENT THIS TO YOU, UH, FOR ALL THE WORK THAT THE FINANCE TEAM HAS DONE WITH DEFEASANCE SAVINGS AND REFUNDING TRANSACTIONS.
AND, UM, ALSO GOES INTO WHY, UM, WE'RE HAVING SUCH, UM, A LARGER REFUNDING AND THE FALL OF
RIGHT? AND, AND, AND, AND I JUST WANT TO REITERATE, YOU KNOW, UM, OUR, OUR DEBT MANAGEMENT PLAN IS, IS REALLY CRITICAL TO OUR OVERALL AFFORDABILITY EFFORTS.
UM, YOU KNOW, THE, IF YOU LOOK AT, UH, THE, THE 289 MILLION IN THAT LAST COLUMN, THE COMBINED THE SEASONS, SOME REFUNDING SAVINGS, REMEMBER THAT OUR, OUR, OUR MANAGEMENT TARGET FOR THAT SERVICE COVERAGE IS, IS 1.85.
[01:30:01]
1.85, UM, YOU KNOW, THIS 289 MILLION IN DEATHS ARE THE SAVINGS, UH, SINCE 2015, UM, HAS REALLY SAY OUR RATE PAYERS 534 MILLION IN REVENUES THAT WE WOULD OTHERWISE YOU WOULD HAVE HAD TO COLLECT TO MAINTAIN THAT 1.85, UH, THAT THAT'S HARVEST COVERAGE MANAGEMENT TARGET.UM, SO, YOU KNOW, TO THE EXTENT THAT WE CAN, UM, CONTINUE THESE EFFORTS, YOU KNOW, CONTINUE TO USE CAPITAL RECOVERY FEES TO DEFEASE DEBT.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE, AS TINA MENTIONED, UM, ALTHOUGH THE FED HAS INDICATED THAT, YOU KNOW, INTEREST RATES WILL LIKELY START TO RISE.
UM, WE, YOU KNOW, WE, WE DON'T THINK THAT THEY'RE GOING TO RAMP UP, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, QUICKLY ENOUGH TO, TO ERASE A POTENTIAL REFUNDING OPPORTUNITY THAT WE HAVE IN THE FALL.
AND IT'S WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO TIE, UH, THE REFUNDING WITH, UH, THE PHASES TRANSACTION AND MAKE IT A REALLY, REALLY EFFICIENT TRANSACTION TO, TO PRODUCE THE MOST SAVINGS.
UM, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE DEPENDING ON WHAT WE TARGET, YOU CAN SEE, UM, YOU KNOW, IN SOME YEARS ON, YOU KNOW, FOR, FOR DEFEASANCE, UH, THE DEFEASANCE TRANSACTIONS, DEPENDING ON HOW SHORT OR LONG WE WENT WITH THE SAVINGS.
UM, FOR EXAMPLE, THE MAY, 2016, UH, DEFEASANCE, UH, YOU KNOW, WE, WE USED 18 MILLION OF CAPITAL RECOVERY FEES, 18.2 MILLION, BUT SAY 21.4 MILLION, BECAUSE THOSE SAVINGS WERE SPREAD OVER A LONGER PERIOD OF TIME.
WE HAD MORE TIME FOR THE ESCROW TO GROW, GROW AND COVER, UH, THE FUTURE DEBT SERVICE REQUIREMENTS.
UH, BUT WHEN WE WENT SHORTER, FOR EXAMPLE, IN 2017, WHERE THOSE SAVINGS WERE SPREAD OVER THREE YEARS, UM, YOU KNOW, WE, WE USE $22 MILLION AND SAY ACTUALLY, YOU KNOW, JUST BELOW $22 MILLION.
SO, UM, SO THAT WAS ONE OF THE REASONS, AGAIN, THAT WE'RE PUSHING OFF, UM, THE PLAN FEES IT'S TRANSACTION, UH, FOR, FOR THIS SPRING INTO THE FALL, UM, TO TRY AND MAKE IT A MORE EFFICIENT TRANSACTION AND PRODUCE, YOU KNOW, SAVINGS IN EXCESS OF THE AMOUNT OF CASH THAT WE'RE ACTUALLY BRINGING TO, TO FEES.
DOES ANYBODY HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT OUR DEBT MANAGEMENT PLAN? I THINK IT'S GOOD.
ANYBODY ELSE HAVE QUESTIONS, RIGHT.
SO FROM A SCHEDULE PERSPECTIVE, AND, UM, I MISSPOKE EARLIER.
I SAID THE COUNCIL BUDGET PRESENTATION WAS JULY 7TH.
IT'S ACTUALLY FRIDAY, JULY 9TH IS WHEN, UM, THE CITY MANAGER WILL PRESENT THE BUDGET TO, TO CITY COUNCIL.
UM, SO SOME, UM, YOU KNOW, FROM A BUDGET SCHEDULE PERSPECTIVE, JULY 9TH IS WHEN THE PRESENTATION WILL HAPPEN.
AND THEN BEGINNING, JULY 22ND, UM, THROUGH JULY, WELL, REALLY THROUGH AUGUST 3RD COUNCIL WILL BE REVIEWING AND DELIBERATING AND SEEKING INPUT, UM, ON, ON THE BUDGET PROCESS, UH, WITH AN ULTIMATE, UH, YOU KNOW, TARGETED ADOPTION.
THEY, UM, THE BEGINNING, UH, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 11TH.
SO COUNCIL COULD, AND, UH, THE BUDGET ON THREE READINGS ON AUGUST 11TH, OR IF THERE'S LOTS OF DISCUSSION, UM, IT COULD OCCUR OVER THREE DAYS FROM WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 11TH THROUGH AUGUST 13TH.
AND SO WHAT THAT MEANS, UH, FOR US IS WE, WE'VE GOT SOME OPTIONS IN TERMS OF HOW YOU WANT TO PROCEED.
UM, YOU KNOW, IF THERE IS A DESIRE TO HAVE ANOTHER MEETING, WE HAVEN'T TALKED YET ABOUT, UM, THE, THE PROPOSED CIP BUDGET.
AND SO OUR, OUR PLAN WAS TO BRING THAT BACK.
UM, THE NEXT TIME WE MEET, UM, PROVIDE A LITTLE BIT MORE DETAIL IN TERMS OF NUMBERS AND WHERE WE'RE STILL ACCUMULATING, UM, THE BILL RELIEF THAT WAS PROVIDED FOR, UM, FOR OUR CUSTOMERS RELATED TO WINTER STORM UPDATE.
SO THOSE ARE TWO ADDITIONAL UPDATES THAT WE, UM, YOU KNOW, COULD DISCUSS IT AT A FUTURE MEETING.
AND THEN ALSO, UM, UM, YOU KNOW, OUR JULY MEETING WHERE WE'RE PLANNING TO COME TO THE FULL COMMISSION IN THE WATER WASTEWATER COMMISSION WITH PROPOSED, UM, FINANCIAL POLICY UPDATES.
SO COMING OUT OF OUR 2018 COST OF SERVICE
[01:35:01]
STUDY, 20 17, 20 18 COST OF SERVICE STUDY, WE SET, YOU KNOW, THE MANAGEMENT TARGETS FOR A DEBT SERVICE COVERAGE FOR DAYS CASH.AND, YOU KNOW, SO THAT SORTS OF COVERAGE AT 1 8, 5 DAYS CASH AND 245 DAYS, AND WE HAD ANTICIPATED, UM, MAKING SOME FINANCIAL POLICY CHANGES TO JUST TO STRENGTHEN OUR, OUR, UH, FINANCIAL POLICIES RELATED TO THAT SERVICE COVERAGE, DAY'S CASH AND OUR CFE FUNDING PERCENTAGE.
ALTHOUGH THAT ONE, ISN'T A, UM, A SIGNIFICANT CHANGE.
I WOULDN'T CHARACTERIZE ANY OF THEM NECESSARILY AS A SIGNIFICANT CHANGE, BUT, UM, WE, WE PLAN ON BRINGING THAT FORWARD.
AND, AND SO IF THERE'S, DEPENDING ON MEETING AVAILABILITY, YOU KNOW, WE CAN, WE CAN DISCUSS THOSE THREE ITEMS, YOU KNOW, IN ADVANCE OF THAT JULY MEETING TO GIVE, UM, YOU KNOW, MORE OF A BACKGROUND, YOU PARTICULARLY RELATED TO FINANCIAL POLICY UPDATE.
UM, AND THEN YOU ALWAYS WANT TO BE WORKING TOWARDS, UH, YOU KNOW, A RECOMMENDATION FROM THE COMMISSION, UM, IN THE EARLY AUGUST MEETING, UH, FOR, FOR COUNCIL AND BEFORE THEY DELIBERATE FULL BUDGET, UM, YOU KNOW, AUGUST 11TH THROUGH 13TH.
SO, UM, AND THEN IF THERE WAS A DESIRE TO GET INTO MORE OF THE DETAILS IN TERMS OF THE PROPOSED BUDGET, YOU ALWAYS PROVIDED A HIGH LEVEL SUMMARY OF, OF THE CHANGES FROM FORECAST TO, TO PROPOSED BUDGET.
UH, BUT ONCE COUNCIL, YOU KNOW, RECEIVES THE BUDGET PRESENTATION, WE CAN RELEASE ALL OF THE BUDGET PAGES, UM, TO, UM, TO, TO THIS COMMITTEE AND, UM, GO INTO MORE DETAIL.
SO, YOU KNOW, WE SEE, YOU KNOW, EITHER TWO OR THERE, YOU KNOW, ONE OR TWO MORE MEETINGS, IF WE WANT TO HAVE ONE IN ADVANCE OF THE COUNCIL PRESENTATION, OR IF WE WANT TO DO IT ALL, YOU KNOW, RIGHT AFTER THE COUNCIL PRESENTATION, I THINK WE COULD GET THROUGH, UM, GET THROUGH ALL OF THAT, UM, IN, IN ONE MEETING, UM, YOU KNOW, IF IT'S, IF IT'S A TWO HOUR MEETING, UH, JESSE, YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE LEFT.
UM, I THINK IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA FOR US TO HAVE ANOTHER MEETING TO REVIEW THAT ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, BECAUSE WE NEED TO DRAFT THIS GROUP NEEDS TO DRAFT A RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL TO PRESENT TO THE COMMISSION.
AND, UM, I'D LIKE TO HAVE SOME MORE FACTS BEFORE I TRY TO DRAFT UP THAT, UH, RECOMMENDATION.
SO OUR AUGUST WATER WAS OUR COMMISSION MEETING.
IS THAT BEFORE THE AUGUST 11TH? YES.
SO THAT'S ABOUT A WEEK IN ADVANCE E YES.
IF THAT'S ENOUGH FOR, I, WE GENERALLY, I'M SORRY.
I KNOW WE'VE GENERALLY KIND OF DONE IT ON THE FLY IN THAT LAST BUDGET COMMITTEE MEETING IN ADVANCE.
SO, UM, IF, IF WE DO IT AS WE HAVE IN YEARS PAST, AND, YOU KNOW, I THINK WE COULD, WE WOULD HAVE IT READY FOR THE AUGUST FOUR, UM, COMMISSION MEETING.
I'D LIKE TO DO AT LEAST ONE MORE MEETING, UH, MAYBE, UM, IN JUNE, UH, MAYBE IN THREE OR FOUR WEEKS, WOULD YOU GUYS BE READY THEN TO DO THE CIP AND ALL THAT? YES, WE WON'T BE READY.
UM, AND THEN IF WE NEED ANOTHER ONE WE CAN, BUT I'M KIND OF THINKING WE CAN DO IT IN JUNE AND THEN GET THAT RECOMMENDATION DRAFTED.
AND, AND THEN, UM, WE COULD EVEN DO IT IN OUR JULY COMMISSION MEETING CHAIR.
UM, I JUST WANTED TO LET Y'ALL KNOW THAT, UH, SINCE WE'RE NOT QUITE SURE, UH, HOW MEETINGS WILL CONTINUE FORWARD, UH, UNTIL THE END OF THE MONTH, I'LL BE HAPPY TO FOLLOW UP WITH, UH, THE COMMITTEE AND STAFF TO PROVIDE, UM, RECOMMENDED DATES THAT FIT ALONG THIS TIMEFRAME AND FOLLOW UP WITH EVERYONE.
I THINK FROM, YOU KNOW, UH, WHERE, YOU KNOW, IN A QUICKLY CHANGING WORLD, YOU KNOW, IN TERMS OF, UH, EVERYTHING THAT'S HAPPENING WITH COVID, UM, JUST LAST WEEK, UH, CITY MANAGER, UH, LA UH, UH, COMMUNICATED THAT MASKS ARE NO LONGER REQUIRED IN CITY FACILITIES.
UM, AND SO WE DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS FROM, FROM A MEETING, UH, PERSPECTIVE AND, AND, AND, YOU KNOW, HOW SOON
[01:40:01]
WE MIGHT BE RETURNING TO TWO IN-PERSON MEETINGS.I DO KNOW THAT WE'VE HAD, UM, YOU KNOW, FOR OUR WINTER STORM AFTER ACTION, UM, GROUP, WE HAD AN IN-PERSON MEETING, SO WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO DO SO.
UM, BUT YOU KNOW, WE'RE LOOKING TO, UM, CERTAINLY THE, THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE AND, AND CITY MANAGER, UH, YOU KNOW, FOR, FOR A LITTLE BIT OF GUIDANCE THAT REGARD.
WELL, JUST LET US KNOW WHAT YOU FIND OUT.
AND, UM, JUST TO CLARIFY, UH, THE BUDGET COMMITTEE DOES NOT HAVE THE OPTION OF CURRENTLY MEETING IN PERSON BECAUSE IT IS A FORMAL, UH, COMMITTEE AND THE OTHER GROUP, UH, IS A WORKING GROUP.
SO THERE ARE DIFFERENT RULES APPLY, BUT YES, I WILL FOLLOW UP WITH, UH, THE, THE DATES, THE, UH, FOR EVERYONE TO CONSIDER AND, UH, GET A CONSENSUS.
JESSE, YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS? OH, I AGREE WITH YOU SUSAN, TO TRY TO HAVE THE MEETING A LITTLE BIT EARLIER, SO WE CAN GET THE COORDINATION WITH THE REST OF THE COMMISSION PRIOR, AND THEN IF WE NEED ANOTHER MEETING, WE CAN HAVE THAT.
SO I, I, I, I AGREE WITH YOUR THINKING AND IF THE NEXT MEETING HAPPENS TO BE VIRTUAL, THAT MAKES IT PRETTY EASY TO SQUEEZE IT IN IF IT'S HAPPENS BEFORE THE MAJOR CHANGE.
HOW CAN WE GET SEEN? AND NOW I DON'T KNOW.
AND I GUESS NOW I CAN SEE TRAVIS AGAIN.
UM, AND I'M FINE WITH THE MEETINGS AND, UH, THAT'S SOUNDS GOOD.
MY QUESTION, AND THIS MAY HAVE ALREADY BEEN ANSWERED, AND I APOLOGIZE IF I MISSED THIS, BUT BELIEVE AUSTIN WATER IS PLANNING THEIR, UH, POST WINTER STORM, UH, VARIOUS PROJECTS AND MOVED.
AND, AND I, I DON'T NEED A REAL LONG ANSWER ON THIS THAT I THINK YOU'VE ALREADY SAID IT, YOU ARE TOTALLY TAPPED THE BUDGET.
PEOPLE ARE TOTALLY TAPPED INTO THAT PROCESS SO THAT IF THE WATER DEPARTMENT SAYS THEY WANT TO BUILD 30 MILLION GALLONS OF STORAGE, THAT'S GOING TO BE IN THE BUDGET.
THEY DECIDE TO BUILD SOMETHING ELSE THAT SAW QUICK AND POST WINTER STORM RESPONSE IF YOU'RE LOCKED IN.
UH, SO AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, UM, WE, UM, SHORTLY AFTER THE WINTER STORM, WE, WE, WE LOOKED AT OUR EXISTING LIST OF, OF HORIZON CIP PROJECTS, THINGS THAT DIDN'T MAKE IT INTO OUR FIVE-YEAR FORECAST AND LOOKED FOR THINGS THAT WE COULD PULL IN TO, UM, THIS YEAR FIVE-YEAR CIP SPENDING PLANS, SUBMITTAL, UM, AND WE IDENTIFIED ABOUT 19 MILLION OF, OF PROJECTS THAT WERE ALREADY, YOU KNOW, UNDER CONSIDERATIONS, UM, AS, AS A FUTURE PROJECT.
UM, AND, AND WE PULLED 19 MILLION OF THOSE PROJECTS.
AND AS WE CONTINUE TO, UM, DO OUR WINTER STORM AFTER ACTION REVIEW, UM, YOU KNOW, IF FURTHER PROJECTS ARE IDENTIFIED THAT MAYBE WEREN'T ON THE HORIZON, WE'LL HAVE A COUPLE OF WAYS WE CAN BRING THOSE IN.
WE CAN EITHER BRING THEM IN, UM, YOU KNOW, IN THE CURRENT YEAR OR IN FYI 22 AS A BUDGET AMENDMENT.
UM, AND SO IF THERE IS A HIGH PRIORITY PROJECT THAT WE WANT TO PULL IN, THAT WASN'T ON OUR EXISTING LIST OF PROJECTS, WE CAN BRING THAT IN, YOU KNOW, BUT WE MIGHT GET RELEVANT.
WE WANT TO GET STARTED ON IT REALLY QUICKLY.
WE CAN BRING THAT IN AS A BUDGET AMENDMENT.
UM, IF IT'S SOMETHING THAT IS GOING TO TAKE US A LITTLE BIT OF TIME TO RAMP UP ANYWAY, THEN YOU MIGHT START TO SEE THOSE PROJECTS AS WELL.
UM, IN, IN NEXT YEAR'S BUDGET SUBMITTAL.
UM, SO I THINK THERE, THERE, THERE'S GOING TO BE MULTIPLE OPPORTUNITIES AND WE'RE COORDINATING, YOU KNOW, ALL OF THOSE ACTIVITIES WITH OUR INFRASTRUCTURE TEAM, UH, TO MAKE SURE THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, WHATEVER PROJECTS WE NEED TO GET DONE, AND WE FEEL LIKE ARE A PRIORITY RESILIENCE PROJECTS.
UM, WE'LL GET STARTED FROM A BUDGET PERSPECTIVE TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET INTO THAT.
I, UH, I THINK THAT HORIZON BUSINESS IS ONE THING, BUT I THINK THERE ARE PROJECTS THAT ARE ONLY NOW BEING FIGURED OUT.
AND OF COURSE THERE'S, THERE'S, SOME OF THEM ARE BEING FIGURED
[01:45:01]
OUT BY ME THAT ALSO WATER DOESN'T WANT TO DO.FOR INSTANCE, I RECOMMENDED THAT THEY INSULATE EVERY PIPE THAT EVERY PLANT BY NEXT DECEMBER 1ST, I DON'T THINK EVERYBODY WAS SUPER EXCITED GOING OUT THERE AND INSULATE, BUT I, I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY WE ARE NOT INSULATING THOSE TYPES TODAY.
AND I AM GOING TO CONTINUE TO PUSH THAT BECAUSE IT SEEMS LIKE A VERY LOW COST EFFORT TO PROTECT THESE WATER PLANTS FROM BREAKING DOWN.
AND THERE ARE OTHER THINGS, UH, LIKE THAT, THAT WE'RE STILL DISCUSSING.
AND OBVIOUSLY I DON'T HAVE THE ABILITY TO SAY WHAT GETS DONE OR NOT.
I CAN ONLY SUGGEST, BUT I'D BE REAL FLEXIBLE ON YOUR BUDGET BECAUSE YOU MAY GET SOME OF THESE THINGS IN THE NINTH INNING AND YOU WANT TO PUT THE MONEY IN I'LL CHECK OUT.
AND, AND, UM, I MENTIONED EARLIER TOO, THAT, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE OF THE PLAN DEFEASANCE, THAT'S NOT GONNA HAPPEN, UM, OR THE BUDGETED DISEASES, THAT'S NOT GONNA HAPPEN WITHIN THE CALENDAR YEAR OR IN FISCAL YEAR 21, IT'S GOING TO BE EARLY FISCAL YEAR 22.
WE HAVE SOME BUDGET AUTHORITY, UM, YOU KNOW, TO, TO, TO DO A FEW THINGS.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, IF, IF THINGS LIKE THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, UM, IF, IF WE DO DECIDE TO DO THINGS LIKE THAT, WE'VE GOT THE ABILITY, UM, TO MAYBE DO SOME THINGS VERY QUICKLY, IF THERE'S SOME EASY LOW-HANGING FRUIT, UH, THAT, THAT WE CAN LEARN, UH, YOU KNOW, WE'VE GOT BUDGET AUTHORITY IN THE CURRENT YEAR TO DO THAT.
UM, AS A MATTER OF COURSE, OUR BUDGET GENERALLY INCLUDES, UH, YOU KNOW, CONTINGENCY FUNDING, UM, AND, AND WE'RE ABLE TO PICK UP SMALLER PROJECTS, UM, YOU KNOW, PARTICULARLY A PROJECT LIKE THAT, THAT, THAT ISN'T NECESSARILY, UM, YOU KNOW, DOESN'T SIT SIGNIFICANTLY EXTEND, UM, A ASSETS USEFUL LIFE, UM, THAT WOULD JUST BE MORE OF A MAINTENANCE AND PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE TYPE DEAL.
UM, SO THAT WOULD GENERALLY RUN THROUGH OPERATING.
UM, BUT IF WE NEED TO DO A BUDGET AMENDMENT AND ANY TIME CAN DO ANY OF THOSE PROJECTS, UM, YOU KNOW, WERE, WERE FULLY ENGAGED IN THAT PROCESS TO, TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE'RE, WE'RE NOT, UH, YOU KNOW, OUR, OUR JOB IS, IS TO, YOU KNOW, IF, UH, UM, YOU KNOW, OUR, OUR, UM, ENGINEERS AND OPERATIONS FOLKS, AS THEY TELL US THEY NEED TO DO SOMETHING FROM A FINANCE PERSPECTIVE, OUR JOB BECOMES OKAY.
LET'S, LET'S, LET'S FIGURE OUT HOW TO MAKE IT HAPPEN, AND WE'RE FULLY ENGAGED IN THAT PROCESS.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, TRAVIS? YEAH.
UH, UH, I'LL JUST SAY, UH, YOU KNOW, IN PAST YEARS WE'VE KIND OF USED THE, UH, THE SECOND MEETING OF THIS GROUP TO KIND OF GET INTO THE WEEDS A LITTLE BIT ON THE SPECIFICS.
AND, UH, DO YOU THINK IT IS A GOOD IDEA, CERTAINLY BE INTERESTED IN THE JOSEPH.
I THINK YOU MENTIONED WE HAD ALLOCATED 20 MILLION OVER THE FIVE-YEAR CIP FOR SOME OF THE, UH, UH, RESILIENCY RELATED ITEMS. SO I'D CERTAINLY LIKE TO HEAR MORE INFORMATION ON THAT.
UM, JUST WANT TO REITERATE THAT THE GREAT JOB Y'ALL ARE DOING ON THE DEBT DEFEASANCE CERTAINLY, UH, APPRECIATE THE HARD WORK Y'ALL ARE DOING TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN.
AND SUSAN, I'M PRETTY FLEXIBLE ON DATES IN JUNE.
THANK, UH, I AGREE WITH YOUR, YOUR APPROACH THAT MAYBE WE COULD, UH, HAVE A MEETING IN JUNE AND MAYBE BE PREPARED TO SHARE, UH, THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS WITH THE BOARD IN JULY.
UH, I REALLY, REALLY THINK THAT THE REASON IS AMAZING.
Y'ALL DOING A GREAT JOB AND A IMPACT IS ACTUALLY GETTING STARTED FOR THE TRANSPORTATION SIDE AS WE SPEAK.
SO THAT'S GOOD NEWS FOR THE CITY TO PAY FOR THINGS PROACTIVELY INSTEAD OF REACTIVELY.
ANY OTHER COMMENTS FROM ANYBODY? WELL, WHAT'S THAT AT 3:51 PM.