municipal utility districts declining revenue ohm
DESCRIPTION
http://www.ohm-advisors.com. Municipalities and Utility Districts all over the US face a shared challenge: declining revenues.Learn about the trends in financial challenges to public utilities, current problems and the actions you can take to create a smart contingency plan.TRANSCRIPT
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Declining RevenueTennessee Association of Utility Districts
August 6, 2009
Evan N. Pratt, PE, PrincipalOrchard, Hiltz, and McCliment
Learning Objectives
• Identify changing trends in financial challenges to public utilities
• Identify current problems and reactions
• Identify actions you can take to create a contingency plan
Baseline: How’s It Going?
• Problems are different today
• Problems are bigger today
Baseline: The Problems
• Declining Revenue
• Rising Expenses
• Both
Baseline: Common Language
• Revenue: Basic Components
– User Fees and Connection fees
• Expenses: Basic Components
– Labor
– Capital Improvements
– Debt Retirement
– O and M
– Administrative
The Future: Expenses
The Future: Revenue
The Future: Big Problem!
The Future: Challenges
Change has to make sense to people.
• Communicate how you are cutting costs
• Manage costs by managing assets
• Make up for lost revenue
• Focus on desired level of service of customers
Plan for the Unknown
• Concept: Sensitivity analysis
– Assume revenue trend is worse
– Assume costs escalate faster
– Run at least one parallel budget
• Concept: Contingency plan
Plan for the Unknown
Typical cost controls
• Freeze hiring
• Cut budgets
• Layoffs
• Reduce Capital spending
• Freeze rates
• Delay higher cost maintenance
• Find lowest prices
Plan for the Unknown
Issue: Cost vs
More Cost
• Reduce Capital spending
• Freeze rates
• Delay higher cost maintenance
• Find lowest prices
-
10,000,000
20,000,000
30,000,000
40,000,000
50,000,000
60,000,000
70,000,000
80,000,000
2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030
Years
$ B
udge
t
How to get Behinder
Existing Funding
Needed Funding
Sidebar: Financial Issue
GASB 34
Depreciation Accounting
• Cannot account for true cost• Infrastructure condition is not assessed
Plan for the Unknown: Value
Managing Assets Saves $
• What do you have
• Condition
• Service level
• Maintenance
• Life cycle approach –
capital & maintenance
Plan for the Unknown
• How do I really know my costs for the next 10 years?
• CIP with funding options
• Operational Assessment –
www.apwa.net
• Asset Management approach
– Capital work
– Maintenance work
Plan for the Unknown
• Now you know WHAT you need
• You have some idea how to pay for it
• It’s Rate Study time!
• CRITICAL TIP: Sensitivity Analysis
Funding CIP and Maintenance
• Are you capturing all your costs today?
• Where do these (CIP and maintenance) fit in your rates/fees?
AWWA Manual M1 (2000)
• 5 basic methods of funding
– Connection fees
– User Fees
– Debt Financing
– Developer reimbursement (SDCs)
– Stock issuance (Third Party funding)
Financing Tip
• Debt financing gives you a buffer for rate hikes
• TMBF, Revolving Loan Funds, or other low interest programs cut costs 25-30%
Conclusions
• Things suck
• They will get worse
• You will find a way
• It hurts less with a plan
On Leadership
• People hear what leaders do more than what they say.
• Survival is not just for the strongest or smartest
• Survivors will be those who adapt most quickly. Look for them on staff.
Key Points
• Problems are tougher than ever
• Learn more about your system, its needs, the costs, and the rate impacts
• TOOLS: Sensitivity Analysis and Contingency Plan (worst case)
Key Points
• Communicate the issues with staff and the public. Solutions too!
• Brag about cost savings
• Relate public desire to service costs
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Questions
http://www.advancing
communities.blogspot.com