Good Good evening. My name is Councilwoman Helen Anthony, and I am calling to order our regular meeting of the committee of finance on just 09/17/2024 at 05:33PM. Madam Clerk, would you please call the board? Councilwoman Del Sanchez?
We have five, president, zero absent. You so much. I would also like to welcome from the city solicitor's office, Amy Chawall, who's here joining us. Thank you very much. And I'd like to thank our wonderful close dialogue and Donna for helping us together.
much. Okay. With that, I would like to make a motion to waive the ratings of items number one through 14, waive the rating, and the second vote on them together. So Okay. Good evening, everyone.
Good. Who would you like to start today?
I've got some opening remarks, if you don't mind. Sure. Go ahead.
Finance chair, I'm taking a of members of the finance committee meeting. As I previously stated, my name is Joseph, Each of the items you will consider this evening have been reviewed and approved by our own. And tonight, we respectfully request the approval of this committee. Joining me tonight are two subject matter experts to include
Our And let's see. We're asking for achieving the class completion and compensation performances. Total salary increase over last year is about 5%. We're also seeing large increases in sleep repair, school, and since the last rate filing, created the division, which is about And with that, we were comfortable with the budget. We had an effect on.
Can I just clarify a few things? I'm sorry. Did you say that the insurance rates have increased by 2040% since the last docket. And that last docket, I'm sorry, was in 2021 was our last rate increase. And why so much?
Yeah. So what we're saying is just the increase in
the overall owner there, you know, raising rates. One thing that's is particularly high that we will find is that there's only one provider of insurance. So the insurance Mhmm. Increase. But...
And then another thing is the workers' compensation payouts. So those have increased, but our rates not is. Mhmm. Okay. Also, I just wanted to why ask you why consumption is down?
So You wanna give another question? Correct. Correct. It's part of the... There were even that we've been thinking last year.
Rain... I don't know how much sun and how much rain we have. But, also, we'll be adding more and more places that are getting... That have the more safe fixtures in the house, longer mat, you know, appliances and things like that, and the lack of industry, which you see more and more industry tends to lead the area. Both of those factors tend to drive consumption down.
The the average consumption for our service areas, I started working in 1996, and it's actually 10,000,000 gallons a day lower today than it was in 1996.
And have you quantified that? I mean, I'm just asking for your own... I mean, in terms of maybe really trying to break that out and figure out... Can you figure out why a little more specifically? Or
And, basically, the majority... Like I said, the majority of it is, like, in and that, but it is... All of the tributes to the early nineties, the month fortunately, for us, we have... We're not in the West, but we have a a demand issue. So it kinda hurts us in a way we're we're not selling as much water.
So we're not... Because the water is based on the water. The rates are based on the water. Our revenue is based on the water itself. We don't have as much water.
And I'm sorry. One more question. I'm gonna open it up for the committee. And we're not having any issue with supply. No.
So the supply, we have to move the motion to the line. Okay. Alright. I'll open it up to the committee. Who's who would you like to start this?
Thank guys, for for coming here before I was saying, presenting. Just for, like, my own educational purposes, so your operating budget is the revenue and expenses and then stuff like the water quality and capital fund. Can you just explain, like, how money from, like, the operating budget kind of... It seems like funds is other.
Yeah. So we have a lot of restricted funds, and each have a specific purpose. What we got, we needed our insurance at that time. That's what we're getting rates for. If it comes in through the total revenue and then transferred into that fund, we can only be used for insurance.
So the operating budget is the only place where,
revenue, like, first starts. Like, revenue doesn't, like, ever directly go to any of this other
It would come to operating,
goes well restricted. Would pass it through to those.
I guess, like, what is, it's kinda, like, hard to tell of all the different graphs. Like, what's, like, the... That a profit at the end of the year, or, like, you just carry over anything that is extra? Or
So it depends. It's way back in the year. Yeah.. Pay us some.
And then my last question, is there, like, opportunities? I'm sure you guys are, like, seeing to, like, sell more water. Like, what... Are we kinda, like, capped out in in that sense? Is there, like, other, like, cities and
towns that have, like, approached you guys? I don't Well, they've approached us, but, two weeks ago, I think most recently, it was Johnston that acquired their water system. And as a result, they acquired them. We had to make
people are on it. We're looking for places to get loaded, but, you know, no matter where we try to stick a lot of water to that, it requires some kind of investment to be able to get the water that we had to where they they weren't. But we we do all around where those situations were. I don't feel like wants it for instance at one place that they've walked about their own time. It possible that we're down there?
Yes. That's what I heard about. Do you have any questions? Go ahead. I'm I'm breaking up my.
I have a few quick ones. In terms of the compensation changes that we have here, it looks like there are two positions... Sorry. Let me get my phone. I just have a spreadsheet here.
The chief engineer and the general manager, and the compensation is increasing, like, quite a large amount. But you're doing the general manager. It's like a... The range is, like, above 25% increase for that position. Can you just speak a little bit about those salary increases and, like, what drove those, like, larger range increases?
Certainly salary increases. They are rate increases in range.
Yeah. Takes some time. So it's kind of, of course, we jump in every time. We'll kind of
move those salary ranges to what's consistent and similarly sized. Okay.
Do you guys do, like, a regular salary review of other similar Yes. We do. Okay.
We're members of our national trade organizations, and we've been over the warlord association. So got representation there and kind of keep it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Best best practices. So so this is kind of a correction to a wage that happened that was a good amount of time.
Yeah. Oh. So can I ask Yes, please? You had mentioned that there's some increases with, like, road disturbance and doing the construction in the roads. How much do you guys partner with other folks who are digging into the roads like Rhode Island Energy and others?
Are they giving you alerts when they're already digging into the roads so you can piggyback on that, or what does that process look like for you guys to, like, save money basically on digging?
