PUBLIC UTILITIES ADVISORY BOARD AGENDA ITEM
ACTION REQUESTED:
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Receive the Financial Activity Summary (Period 01)
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DEPARTMENT: Water Utilities
SUBMITTED BY: Darrell Blenniss, Director of Water Utilities
BOARD/COMMISSION REVIEW:
N/A
BACKGROUND:
The 2026 Fiscal Year commenced on January 1, 2026. As part of the Utility's financial governance, monthly budget reports are reviewed to track expenditures against the approved budget to ensure fiscal responsibility. For the first month of the year (Period 01), the standard linear spending benchmark is 8.33% (1/12th of the annual budget).
This report analyzes Year-To-Date (YTD) expenditures and encumbrances across the various Water Utility divisions (Water Supply, Administration, SWRC, Repair & Excavation, Locating Lab, Engineering, and Collection & Pumping) to detect variances and ensure proper budget alignment early in the fiscal cycle.
Revenues will be analyzed quarterly.
DISCUSSION:
Overall, the Utility's financial position remains sound. While most operating expenses are tracking below the linear benchmark, total fund usage appears artificially high in specific cost centers. This is primarily due to the front-loading of annual encumbrances-specifically contracts and water purchases, which is standard procedure for Period 01.
Departmental Analysis & Anomalies
* Water Supply, Distribution & Metering (Account 41251510): Total utilization is at 88.7%. This high variance is driven by the Water Purchase account (543417), where the entire annual budget of $32,086,146 has been encumbered ($29.9M) or expended ($2.1M). This is a standard start-of-year accounting entry. However, Water & Sewer (542416) is tracking at 14.4%, nearly double the linear projection, and warrants monitoring.
* Administration (Account 41101500): Total utilization is 6.2%. Software and Hardware (531312) is at 36.5% due to annual licensing renewals, which is expected.
* SWRC (Account 41251530): Total utilization is 2.9%. Software an...
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