By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
After several months of reviews and refinement, officials in Town of Waterford’s Sanitary District No.1 have adopted their 2015 budget. It represents a slight decrease from the 2014 operations plan.
Commissioners overseeing WSD adopted the budget Nov. 12. It totals $972,824 — a 1.43 percent reduction from the $986,900 budget that was adopted in 2014.
Through most of the past year, WSD has been discussing its rate structure, and the review continues as commercial property owners recently raised concerns about the increment of the rate increases.
Amid the ongoing questions about rates, WSD commissioners have reduced the amount of income they anticipate taking in from user charges. In 2015, projections point to bringing in $930,324.
In the 2014 budget, commissioners had earmarked $944,000 in user charges into the WSD budget, and in 2013, $958,374 was allocated.
User charges represent the lion’s share of WSD’s income. Other sources include permit and connection fees and interest from investments.
On the expense side, officials expect a slight uptick in salaries and wages in one category and a trim in another area.
In 2014, $115,225 was set aside for operations staff, and in the year ahead an even $120,000 has been placed in that line item.
But administrative staffing is being reduced as the district outsources some functions. In 2015, commissioners set aside $25,000 toward salaries and wages in this employment group. The number has been reduced to $14,000 in 2015.
Commissioners are not giving themselves raises. In the year ahead, $12,000 has been set aside for the trio, in addition to $918 for FICA contributions. The same amount was allocated in 2014.
Capital expenses are expected to decline by more than 50 percent in 2015 as the remnants of the Highway 164 reconstruction project pass and a series of back-office upgrades are completed.
In the year ahead, WSD commissioners have allocated $10,000 toward new pumps and $1,000 toward the rate study. A year ago, WSD’s capital expenses totaled $25,000.
Retirement benefits
After adopting the budget, commissioners at their Nov. 12 meeting took action on the provider for WSD’s retirement benefits.
In October, Operations Superintendent Norm Nelson had requested commissioners consider switching from the currently offered deferred compensation plan to the benefits offered through the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS).
Commissioners delayed Nelson’s request at the time, but made a definitive vote to nix the request at the November meeting.
“I’m uncomfortable with the amount of risk the district would be taking on,” Chairman Dan Dickinson said.
Commissioner Ricky McNeiley agreed, saying, “It’s less risk for the district if we just stay as we are.”
Under terms of the employee benefits plan, WSD will pay 88 percent of the premium for single coverage, while employees need to pay the remaining 12 percent. The contribution formula is different under a plan involving a spouse or children.
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