I'll call this uh May 12th 2025 meeting of the budget rights committee to order first up we have our finance no first up we have the committee meeting minutes uh I'll entertain a motion to approve the minutes as presented.

Second okay it's been moving properly second those in favor on the committee uh raise your hand by saying I mean just raise your right hand okay and now we go to our finance department and get some financial wisdom morning so what you have in front of you is the proposed budget last month um we presented the prelim budget there are just a couple of slight changes um from month over month um as far as the presentation of the budget and what has changed in in the budget the primary change that you're going to see is um we have included the um service proposal um inside of this pre-li this proposed budget which it did not include last month um and the total that um was included for service proposals approximately 21000 dollars for the changes um that were approved as far as um the additional changes overall um we do have um built in the budget approximately three point nine million dollars um that we discussed last month um of reserve funds that will be used in order to um increase the amount of capital our capital increase this year to 18 million typically we are around um the uh 13 14 million but with the additional revenues we were able to amp up our capital for the year so one other change um that we would like to um point out in our um budget is the change last this current fiscal year we um included in the budget dollar budgeted dollars amount was a um use of the wholesale rate versus the retail rate for for what we charge ourselves um we also had an adder in there to cover any fixed costs um and personnel costs associated providing the services that is included um as well this year so that was budgeted in both FY25 and FY26 however um as we were um going throughout the year the billing was still billed at a retail rate for this fiscal year so uh we would um like to uh obtain approval from the board or the board's thoughts on um actually aligning the costs that were budgeted the methodology for the budget in addition in a line with the actuals that were actually billed to us we were billed at a retail rate um and we were um budgeted at a wholesale rate and this is internal cost right correct yeah yeah it's the the city and the BLW yes understand yeah so the the point was before that we said we wanted to make sure that the city general fund was paying all the utilities um and was not putting that on the BLW and so that is occurring correct but it's was supposed to be and we budgeted as a uh as cost plus so it was actual cost plus Ron went in and with his folks and came up with some additional dollars that needed to be added to it to do the internal uh computing on that but um so the way it's been booked for the last month has been the wrong way so we were going to convert it back to the right way which was under the budget that was approved and do that.

I think we're all in agreement that it needs to be the wholesale rate.

Yes.

Quick question uh the preliminary budget was 172 million and this one is 174 so those changes account for the additional so the um in addition to the service proposal um we did uh do a increase of the overall cost of sales um based on some discussions that we've had with me ag in the past um couple of months um we anticipate that those costs may be a little bit higher so we uh wanted to make sure that that was built into the budget so the variance between um month over month the proposed versus prelim and um also includes those additional costs of sales increases as well so when you say service proposal what are oh I'm sorry uh service proposals are um personnel costs so if there are um uh salary increases um uh over and above um what we initially anticipated or uh will have for the general um employees um those costs are built in um if there's additional um service initiatives that were proposed during the budget process uh those items that may have been approved and the costs associated with those are included as service proposals one of the and actually we discussed this previously that we were gonna try to make a move to uh help out with uh our linemen area and electric um and so what we are proposing with the budget is that we would have um an actual increase that would go into effect July 1 uh for the the linemen and their supervisors uh that are in that area and that would be a seven percent increase uh that would go into effect um now what we would do with that is we would with the linemen you've got the um journeyman or whatever and you've got the apprentices um and so the apprentices uh you go from a step one to an eight we're not having problems getting people in uh to work for us which is we're real happy about we're able to get folks to come work here which is great and then they train them the problem is once they get past that apprentice eight keeping people here i is uh more of a chore uh because then they are skilled and they can go to other places and so we've found that we've got a problem in the when you look at the actual linemen not apprentice but the area going from the one to the eight we have this big problem until you get to the eights uh the eights we're able to keep but keeping folks there in the one two three four five that that's rough and so uh what we were proposing then is to go in with the leave the apprentices where they are uh because we're not having issues there but then take the actual linemen from the one to the eight and bump that up seven percent and so then that salary the all those salaries would move up and the hiring well the promotional range would move up for all those individuals and then that would go to their supervisors also so it would go to the foreman and to the superintendents and all above them.

So we believe by doing that that that will not only entice our folks to stay but it also may give us an opportunity to bring some people from other places in to us.

And just uh the rumor that it might happen is already probably seeing some possible individuals that may come here from other places.

So it's already starting to to resonate you know knowing that it has to be approved.

That's uh interest in working for us based on the rumor uh that we might be uh increasing the pay quick question on the apprentices so they're not part of the initial bump up so when do they qualify?

So they wouldn't qualify for it.

What would happen is they move and I guess I need to explain how this all works a little bit better.

The way that this all works is somebody comes in to work for us and they're an apprentice one when they come in experience.

So they just come in and they're right at the bottom level.

Well they have the ability to move every six months as far as salary increases go.

If they show that they're meeting the minimum requirements for that next grade they can move at six months.

And when they do they get a five percent bump.

And so they can do that twice a year.

So they're moving pretty quick as an apprentice.

Um and then they're you know they're getting experience, and so it's really, and Ron can jump in on this too, but it's really once they get all that experience and hit the point where they're alignment that we start having trouble because the other folks aren't hiring anybody unless they're gonna be uh like a step two or whatever lineman and they don't hire the apprentices.

So uh it's basically we're we're trying to put the money where the problem is with it.

And you can see the gap now with if you look at the steps where the linemen are, we've got several that are it's apprentice eight, apprentice seven, apprentice six, and then lineman eight topped out, and nowhere in between do we everybody's left in between there?

So when they get to a step eight and go to step one linemen, they're qualified, they go take their journal tests, they can go anywhere because they're trained on both the underground and overhead.

So they're really getting more experience than just about anywhere else.

And they're uh highly sought after.

So they leave, so now instead of the uh we had like a eight point four percent increase from apprentice eight to step one, that's gonna be fifteen.

And there's a lot of excitement with amongst the apprentices, even though they didn't get anything now, they've they've got something to look forward to.

And and everybody would be uh eligible to receive the four percent that we would hopefully be able to give everyone as of January 1st.

So that would apply to everybody.

And that's in the budget.

Yes, yes.

That's all I see.

Yeah.

Um question, um the revenue.

Um I'm assuming well, of course, MIAG apparently bumped up what we need to pay them.

Um but I wanted to make sure uh we're proposing with this budget no increase in electrical rate to the customer.

Correct.

But there is a pass-through rate increase for water and a pass-through rate increase for sewer, and that's in this new budget.

So correct.

Um that is the proposed increase um that is scheduled from the Cobb County Water Authority, those um annual increases are budgeted into the costs.

We have not um, as you mentioned, um put in a a revenue increase for us, so there's no change to the reail um rate.

So you are correct, yes.

There's just a pass-through rate um of the actual costs for the um water and sewer and both of those are built in based upon uh their increase that they told us that they they were going to have.

Yes, so for the um the sewer that um recently uh was approved in I believe it was March or April, and then for the water that was built in based on the um timeline projection from the Cobb County Water Authority.

So just for my edification, the uh water pass through increases what 2.5.

Let me double check.

That is I believe that's 2.5 and sewer.

And the sewer was the have to I have to double check that one, but I think um I didn't provide an increase um in addition to what was passed already in March or April, but it just flows through the um upcoming budget.

Because we didn't have any proposed increases for the sewer projected out for FY26.

They just provided for Cobb County Water Authority, but a full year of the increases that was passed back in March will show up in FY26.

Uh Kim, when when Cobb County corrected their wrong numbers, what was that percentage?

Three percent?

Three and a half.

But that's not for the entire year.

It's not in FY26.

It is an FY26 just because it's already in, and so it'll carry over into the FY26 budget.

Yes.

Okay.

Okay.

One last question.

We're going from an adapted budget for FY25 of uh 164 million to FY26 of 174.