There were multiple items on the agenda Jan. 16 when Watonga City Council met in regular session. One of those items included the rezoning request for a home at 201 N. Prouty. The owners there had asked to be allowed to put a salon in the building, which was zoned residential. The planning and zoning committee had done its due diligence and recommended the change, which council followed by passing the rezoning item.
The council also heard from Russ Meacham of RS Meacham, the city’s accounting firm, that it needs to consider its utility rates. Currently, Meacham said, the electric department revenue is at 38% of budget when it should be at 50% because half the fiscal year has elapsed. The drop in income – about $100,000 compared to last year --is driven by the wholesale cost of electricity.
Mayor Bill Seitter said that Watonga is higher on its electricity rates than many other municipalities its size but lower on water and sewer rates.
Meacham agreed, saying that after the capital outlay projects on the water and sewer side are completed, the city will have to look at rate changes.
“We can’t keep balancing the expenses on the back of the electrical department,” he said. “We need to do some allocation work there.”
When the rates are split more equitably between electricity, water and sewer, it will translate to the city being on a better trajectory if it wants to borrow money from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board, like it has for the current water and sewer plant projects. The amount a town can borrow is based on the annual income of the water and sewer departments.
When Meacham went over the numbers in the recent budget audit, it showed the city had about $6.03 million in cash and equity, $8.3 million in unrestricted funds and $13 million in restricted funds, which are those from OWRB for the drinking water plant and the sewer plant improvements.
There are $29.3 million in assets, including land and property such as the airport, and three loans totaling about $14 million, not including the $13 million the city has yet to spend on the OWRB-funded projects.