PALMDALE – The Palmdale Water District Board of Directors voted unanimously to adopt a $24.09 million budget for calendar year 2020, which begins on Jan. 1.
The budget was approved with a 5-0 vote on Monday after a presentation by PWD Finance Manager/CFO Michael Williams. The Board started the regular meeting early to give itself additional time to get familiar with the budget.
According to the budget, PWD expects its 2020 operating revenue to be $27.29 million. This is an increase of $1.56 million over 2019’s revenue.
The new operating revenue includes the sales of 16,341 acre-feet of water with an 8.1% revenue adjustment, which was adopted by the Board on Oct. 28, 2019, when the rates for years 2020-2024 were set.
“The financial information and data provided in the 2019 Water Rate Study is an indicator of what is included in the 2020 budget,” Williams said. “We use the plans to schedule projects and maintenance, accordingly, over the next five years, but we look at our budget on a year-to-year basis.”
The anticipated operating expenses for next year are $24.09 million, which is an increase of $1.13 million from the 2019 budget amount of $22.96 million. The increase in operating expenses is a result of an inflationary escalation applied to different categories, including water purchases and recovery, water quality, treatment plant expenditures, and departmental expenses.
“Our staff are highly skilled employees who are essential to providing the high-quality water that Palmdale receives,” Board Director Gloria Dizmang said. “As a member of the board, I want to ensure they have the necessary tools and resources to continue providing water reliability.”
As part of the 2019 Water Rate Study, about 100 capital improvement projects were identified as needing to be completed between 2020-24. In 2020, the projects include removing approximately 120,000 cubic yards of sediment from Littlerock Dam, replacing about 2,500 meters, completing several well rehabilitations and replacing aging pipeline.
According to Williams, PWD will invest $4.95 million in new capital improvement projects and complete the commitment to the Upper Amargosa Creek project next year. The budget will leave the District with about $7.5 million in reserves at the end of 2020 as determined by the Water Rate Study, if all projects are completed as outlined in the plan.
For more information about PWD, visit www.palmdalewater.org.
[Information via news release from the Palmdale Water District.]
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Joe Sage says
A 8% increase to the Palmdale Water ratepayer are you kidding me! Where is the outrage and the reporter is rationalizing for the reader as a already adopted rate increase. I got news they just adopted the 8% with this budget, no wonder this newspaper struggles. The real question is how can people in Palmdale Water afford this board of directors.