Sept. 18, 2025 — The Public Utility Advisory Board met at the Independence Utility Center on Thursday to review July financial reports and the utility’s capital improvement program, where staff said about $51 million in capital projects are planned and cautioned that current reserves and timing of expenditures should not be read as a shortfall.

Board members were presented with operating and capital figures for the utility and its divisions. “We finished the period at 11.72% total operating revenues,” a staff member said, adding that total operating revenue-to-expense comparisons showed stability year over year. Staff also flagged that some supply purchases caused monthly expense increases that staff expect will stabilize.

The presentation included division-level details: water finished the month at about 9.91% with operating expenses up to about 12.81%, and an amended water CIP of roughly $32 million, of which $831,000 was used in July. Sanitary sewer collections and penalties were up year over year; the sewer CIP was shown at a roughly $21 million budget, with about $476,000 recorded in the month.

Staff emphasized that the board’s reserve balance must be interpreted in the context of capital timing and large planned purchases. “When you look at $90,000,000, you’re like, ‘wow,’” a staff member said, explaining that the headline reserve number does not account for committed capital work. Staff noted several large, planned purchases are pending, including four distribution transformers totaling about $8,000,000 and other large equipment replacements.

To manage workload, staff said the city is hiring contractor crews (Black & McDonald) temporarily while in-house crews are hired and some projects are prepared for bidding. Board members asked for clarification on capital timing and said visibility into project execution would help put monthly reserve figures into context.

The board took no formal action on the financial reports; members were asked to direct questions to staff outside the meeting or wait for future reporting cycles. The board’s next regular meeting was set for Oct. 16.