Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Sewer Department Audit Is Clean

Gurdon's Water and Sewer Department got a clean audit, according to Ronnie Rodgers, with Taylor, Rodgers and Turner.

He told the Gurdon Water and Sewer Commission, at its monthly meeting Monday, July 24, there was a lot in the annual report because of information required by the Rural Development Agency and Arkansas Department of Finance Administration.

The report showed the department with assets increased $380,000, mostly in cash, from last year.

Liabilities were down by about $100,000, he said, with most of this money being used to pay on the department's bonded indebtedness, but the equity is also up from a year ago.

The income statement, Rodgers said, is up $3,000, with net income having increased $1,000. The net profit for the department last year was $86,000.

However, he pointed out, not a lot of new customers were added in the past 12 months. This means there was little growth.

Still, there was an increase in the net cash of $332,000, while the department spent $254,000.

"It's a good looking report," Rodgers told the commission. "Investments are vested in certificates of deposit and all of the money is covered either by the FDIC or bank securities."

The department's operating expense schedule and salary schedule remained mostly unchanged, while depreciation had little change either.

Expenses are pretty much in line, he said, but told the group the maintenance and repair expenses were $428,000 up from $419,000 a year ago.

The difference, Rodgers said, was in the cost of repairing a water tank.

There is $367,000 in a restricted cash account, he said, and the department must put 5 percent of its monthly revenue in this account according to the bond ordinance.

Should an emergency arise, he said, the department could use this money. But, there are restrictions on what the funds could be used for.

"This was an uneventful year from our standpoint," Rodgers said. "There were no new debts or rate increases. It was a quiet year."

The auditors, he added, pick 20 or 25 customers at random, checking their monthly billing statements to make sure they are properly made out and consistent.

The minutes of the commission meetings are also examined to make sure the department follows through on what it says it will do.

"We did a lot of spot checking," he said, "but found no surprises."

Harold Hurst, department manager, asked if a city department had to pay sales tax, because the water department was charged tax when purchasing a backhoe.

Rodgers said there is a new law on the books requiring such entities to pay tax.

Once the audit report was delivered, Rodgers left and the commission began examining the proposed budget for 2000-2001. The Water and Sewer Department's fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30.

The projected expenses are anticipated at $446,271, while the projected revenues were set at $594,680.

No changes were made in any of the salary budgets, though the maintenance and repair budget was increased to $22,000.

The budget was approved.

Hurst told the commission of appearing before the Gurdon City Council on July 10, and getting approval for the bond ordinance to raise sewer rates.

In addition, he said, the council approved the department raising the connection fee from $200 to $250, or the actual cost of connection, whichever is highest.

This, Hurst said, was done because there are times the department has to dig up a street for a sewer tap or bore beneath a street, and this can't be done for $200, or even $250.

Outside the city limits, he said, the base connect fee is $350.

The commission approved this increase as well.

The meeting closed with discussion about an unhappy customer.It seems a customer on Carey Street had a significant increase in usage in February, and got upset when getting the bill in March.

She demanded something be done to correct the situation.

Hurst said the meter was checked, but wasn't turning in March, and he saw old pipes and plumbing in the yard, assuming the house was replumbed.

However, he said, the customer wouldn't admit to having a leak, and the department can't adjust the bill otherwise.

Hurst said they have to know where the water went before they can adjust the bill, and then only the sewer part can be changed.

Since the new plumbing was installed, he told the board, the usage and billing have returned to normal.