Here is the discussion of the budget from previous Dillon City Council meetings.
As the City of Dillon considered their budget there was a water and sewer rate student presented as they considered going up on the rates.
Here is the discussion from those meetings, which can also be viewed on www.thedillonherald.com or on The Dillon Herald’s channel on YouTube.
From the April minutes of
the Dillon City Council:
Mike Hanna of Hanna Engineering, LLC presented the water and sewer rate study to Council. His information showed graphs of the City’s water and sewer rates over the last 10 years and it also compared our rates with other towns. Our rates were significantly lower. Hanna then presented information based on the last year’s budget figures to determine how much we would need to have in our depreciation account for repairs. Based on his information, he suggested an 11.38 percent rate increase to have a 15 percent margin for water/sewer depreciation. Councilman Phil Wallace said he thought we were increasing our rates based on the CPI over the years. City Manager Glen Wagner said we had increased rates last year. Mr. Hanna said we needed to ask ourselves how much money we need and how quickly we need it to determine our rate increase. Councilman Wallace said that he felt that we were at a vulnerable point since our depreciation was not being funded for unexpected repairs. Wager asked Council if they were interested in increasing the rates by 11.38 percent based on Douglas’ information, or did we want to go somewhere lower or higher. Councilman John Braddy and Councilman Douglas Jackson agreed that we needed to start somewhere and that we knew it would be a big step to start us on the right track. Wagner added that we would also have an increase in garbage rates of 3.4 percent based on the CPI. Mayor Davis said he was concerned about the many individuals who were on a fixed income but he also understood that we had to do what was needed to run our system. Council thanked Hanna for his work in the rate study.
From the May minutes of
the Dillon City Council:
City Manager Glen Wagner reported that Hanna Engineering had presented a rate study last month indicating that the City was in need of a rate increase for water and sewer. Using information from the month of March, Wagner said the City had 2934 customers with 42 percent of those customers using 2000 gallons or less and 32 percent using 2001–4000 gallons. Wagner said Hanna Engineering proposed an increase of 11.38 percent in rates, which would mean a $2.84 increase for customers using 2000 gallons or less and $3.70 for customers using 2001–4000 gallons. Overall this rate change would yield an increase in revenue of approximately $250,000 for water and sewer. Councilman Phil Wallace said before 2006, we had not had a rate increase in several years, but we have had several repairs that were needed. Councilman Johnny Eller asked if the wastewater plant would be back on track as far as needed repairs once the orbal basin project was completed. Hardy Jackson said yes. Water & Sewer Department Head Councilman Wallace asked how much we had in the depreciation account. Finance Director Janet Bethea said we had $1.8M in restricted funds and $1.2M in unrestricted funds. Councilman Eller asked if Perdue contributed to the depreciation. He was told yes. Continuing, Wagner said the budget was being presented tonight and Council needed to decide if they wanted to do something different with the rates.
Wagner said we were increasing the rates by 11.38 percent, as suggested by the rate study. Councilman Wallace said we needed to create a suitable margin. Councilman John Braddy said the increase would still put us on the low end versus other towns. Wagner said we are also increasing the garbage rates by 3.4 percent, but we have not increased the millage rate for property taxes in years.
The following is the discussion of the Dillon City Council budget taken from the June 13, 2016 minutes of the Dillon City Council:
The City Manager said the proposed budget was balanced so far. In the General Fund, sanitation rates were increasing by 3.4% yielding an increase in revenue of $40,000. General Fund expenses included a salary increase for 69 full-time employees. A 3.4% increase based on the CPI plus retirement and insurance will result in a $98,000 increase in salary expenses. A $500 across the board increase will only be a $41,000 increase in salaries. Councilman Braddy suggested that we do a percentage and cap it at $500 to help the employees with lower salaries. Councilman Eller said we needed to do more for the police officers. Glen said the starting pay for a cadet was $25,000 uncertified and $27,000 certified. This amount was increased to $28,500 after their one-year anniversary. Starting salary information for all ranks was given: LCpl. – $29,429; Cpl. – $30,426; Sgt. – $32,643; 1st Sgt. – $34,860; Lt. $36,000. Councilman Eller asked if we could compare again with surrounding areas. Glen said yes.
Continuing, Glen said the budget was balanced based on a 3.4% increase but we are pinching pennies. Councilman Wallace said we have not increased property taxes in several years. Also in General Fund expenses, Glen reported that health insurance rates will increase by $30 per employee per month and we are going back to TCC and Blue Cross-Blue Shield; two alleys left to resurface for $25,000; purchase a commercial garbage truck for $230,000; Code Enforcement vehicle for $25,000; purchase 10 air packs for $60,000. Glen said we are proposing to use General Fund depreciation funds for the purchase of the garbage truck, the Code Enforcement vehicle and the air packs, which will be a total of $315,000. There is $1,028,606.97 currently in the depreciation account. Glen said we would pay the money back to this account just like a bank loan without interest, possibly for seven (7) years. He said we do not budget for depreciation. We just use surplus funds to put into that account. Glen said overall, we were looking at roughly $348,000 in additional expenses for the General Fund. Councilman Wallace asked where the money was going to come from.
For Water & Sewer revenues, the rates were increasing by 11.38% which would yield an increase in revenues of $250,000. In expenses, there would also be a 3.4% salary increase for full-time employees and health insurance was increasing $360 annually. Glen reported that our SRF loan will decrease by $200,000. Councilman Wallace asked about the depreciation account. Glen said we were still budgeting for it, but Perdue had not accepted the new contract to continue the depreciation contributions. We currently have $2.8M in the combined depreciation accounts. Glen said he would go back and compare salaries for police in other communities and get the information to Council. He said the deadline for the budget is June 30th since we had to give a 15-day notice before the second reading.
