I attended the Service Authority's budget work session on February 27, 2018 with my wife. We were the only members of the public in attendance. This budget work session was similar to the previous ones I've attended as a member of the County's Citizen Budget Advisory Committee. Just like the budget work sessions for the County, the Service Authority has appointed citizens to serve in an advisory role during the budget work sessions. And just like my role on the County's Committee, these citizens are invited to attend the work sessions, give feedback, and ask questions, but do not have a vote when it comes to actually approving the budget. I feel it's a great way to get the public involved in the process and a perfect way to educate those interested in learning more about the process and where all that money goes.
The meeting was attended by Wilma Ward (Director of Finance), Dr. Neiman Young (County Administrator, and the full Board of Directors for the Service Authority. Of the citizens serving on the Committee, Rob Harling, Steven Doss, and Howard Yarus were present. Chris Thomas, the Service Authority General Manager, was also there.
Mr. Thomas started things off with an overview of the Service Authority that included basic facts, a history, and customer counts. He also covered basic details of the debt service fees, rate structure, and concluded with some common ways for customers to conserve water.
As with the County's budget work session, the atmosphere was much more casual with several interruptions from various committee members asking questions. Where the Service Authority broke from the County's format was when my wife asked questions. While public comment was allowed at the beginning of the meeting, it's usually not allowed during these types of meetings. However, the Committee seemed willing to allow the deviation from protocol and her questions were readily answered.
As we here at Project94 research the history of the Service Authority, I was able to learn more about the entity as a whole. Most interesting to me is that the Service Authority is technically a separate entity from the County. While some employees, staff, and Board members share roles on both sides of the proverbial fence, they are two different entities. Historically, the Board of Directors has been the Board of Supervisors. Beginning a couple of years ago, a move was made to change the Board to a more non-political membership with Chris Werle being appointed. With Mike Bennett's appointment this year, there are now two non-elected, private citizens serving on the Board.
I knew most of the basic details about the nine water systems in the County but I was not aware that the Service Authority ran five different wastewater treatment plants. All of these plants are running below their full capacity, which in some cases is a good thing and in some cases a bad thing. I thought of it like that swimming pool your neighbor uses twice a year. It costs them money to operate but it isn't used to it's full potential. One good question that was answered was how the base in Dahlgren factors in. In a word, they don't. The base functions independently of the Service Authority.
The water rates and debt fees have long been a hot topic among customers but during the meeting it was less so. Many on the Board already knew the history behind the recent changes in rates and debt service fees but it was nice to get a review from Thomas. He gave a break-down of how rates had actually decreased from last year in an effort to off-set some of the increases in debt fees. And with a restructuring of the minimum usage rates and tier structure, the goal was to more towards a "pay for what you use" system.
Out of this portion of the discussion, what I found interesting is that there are roughly 60 customers that are not metered. For various reasons, a meter could not be installed. Personally, I know of at least one customer who does not have a meter because their supply line could not be found. This was confirmed by Thomas as one of the reasons the Service Authority has customers in this category. Another is that a meter was never installed for some reason and now the property owners won't allow the Service Authority to install a meter. In other words, as a private property owner, it's your right to deny access to the Service Authority to dig up your yard and install a meter. Unless you already have a meter, then they have the right to access it.
Another interesting tidbit from this discussion was the topic of tampering with meters. Despite attempts to lock meters, remove meters, or somehow secure them, some customers have found ways to circumvent the system in an effort to avoid paying for the water they use. It doesn't sound like this is a common practice across the County but it does sound like the Service Authority has been working hard to make it harder for people to tamper with the meters.
Thomas concluded with some homework for the Committee. He handed out the proposed expenditures for the upcoming budget cycle and, despite the County developing a two-year budget, said he was very hesitant to develop a second year because of all the variables involved. Bennett and Werle both commented that they went through the expenditures with Thomas and every line-item they looked at reducing or had questions on had a data to back up the proposed number.
In the end, I highly encourage anyone and everyone that's interested in the Service Authority's budget, or the County's or even the School Board's, to attend these work sessions. They are highly informative, the atmosphere is typically less uptight than a regular meeting, and you get to hear from the directly involved why things cost what they cost.
The meeting was attended by Wilma Ward (Director of Finance), Dr. Neiman Young (County Administrator, and the full Board of Directors for the Service Authority. Of the citizens serving on the Committee, Rob Harling, Steven Doss, and Howard Yarus were present. Chris Thomas, the Service Authority General Manager, was also there.
Mr. Thomas started things off with an overview of the Service Authority that included basic facts, a history, and customer counts. He also covered basic details of the debt service fees, rate structure, and concluded with some common ways for customers to conserve water.
As with the County's budget work session, the atmosphere was much more casual with several interruptions from various committee members asking questions. Where the Service Authority broke from the County's format was when my wife asked questions. While public comment was allowed at the beginning of the meeting, it's usually not allowed during these types of meetings. However, the Committee seemed willing to allow the deviation from protocol and her questions were readily answered.
As we here at Project94 research the history of the Service Authority, I was able to learn more about the entity as a whole. Most interesting to me is that the Service Authority is technically a separate entity from the County. While some employees, staff, and Board members share roles on both sides of the proverbial fence, they are two different entities. Historically, the Board of Directors has been the Board of Supervisors. Beginning a couple of years ago, a move was made to change the Board to a more non-political membership with Chris Werle being appointed. With Mike Bennett's appointment this year, there are now two non-elected, private citizens serving on the Board.
I knew most of the basic details about the nine water systems in the County but I was not aware that the Service Authority ran five different wastewater treatment plants. All of these plants are running below their full capacity, which in some cases is a good thing and in some cases a bad thing. I thought of it like that swimming pool your neighbor uses twice a year. It costs them money to operate but it isn't used to it's full potential. One good question that was answered was how the base in Dahlgren factors in. In a word, they don't. The base functions independently of the Service Authority.
The water rates and debt fees have long been a hot topic among customers but during the meeting it was less so. Many on the Board already knew the history behind the recent changes in rates and debt service fees but it was nice to get a review from Thomas. He gave a break-down of how rates had actually decreased from last year in an effort to off-set some of the increases in debt fees. And with a restructuring of the minimum usage rates and tier structure, the goal was to more towards a "pay for what you use" system.
Out of this portion of the discussion, what I found interesting is that there are roughly 60 customers that are not metered. For various reasons, a meter could not be installed. Personally, I know of at least one customer who does not have a meter because their supply line could not be found. This was confirmed by Thomas as one of the reasons the Service Authority has customers in this category. Another is that a meter was never installed for some reason and now the property owners won't allow the Service Authority to install a meter. In other words, as a private property owner, it's your right to deny access to the Service Authority to dig up your yard and install a meter. Unless you already have a meter, then they have the right to access it.
Another interesting tidbit from this discussion was the topic of tampering with meters. Despite attempts to lock meters, remove meters, or somehow secure them, some customers have found ways to circumvent the system in an effort to avoid paying for the water they use. It doesn't sound like this is a common practice across the County but it does sound like the Service Authority has been working hard to make it harder for people to tamper with the meters.
Thomas concluded with some homework for the Committee. He handed out the proposed expenditures for the upcoming budget cycle and, despite the County developing a two-year budget, said he was very hesitant to develop a second year because of all the variables involved. Bennett and Werle both commented that they went through the expenditures with Thomas and every line-item they looked at reducing or had questions on had a data to back up the proposed number.
In the end, I highly encourage anyone and everyone that's interested in the Service Authority's budget, or the County's or even the School Board's, to attend these work sessions. They are highly informative, the atmosphere is typically less uptight than a regular meeting, and you get to hear from the directly involved why things cost what they cost.
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