Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting - December 13, 2018
Public Hearing on the Proposed Budget on December 6, 2018 By an 8-0 vote, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation Board took just 15 minutes to approve 11 items which resulted in a $1,203,988,541 budget for 2019. This is $53 million more than 2018, or a 4.6% increase. The property tax levy was raised to $643 million, an increase over 2018 of $20 million, or 3.3%. There was no discussion. (Commissioner Morita was absent.) Next Step: The Board will consider amendments to the 2019 budget at the December 20 meeting, at which time the 2019 budget will be finalized. Relevant Comments from December 6 Public Hearing on the Proposed Budget The 2019 Budget that was passed on December 13 included a number of changes from the Tentative Budget Recommendation by the MWRD Executive Director dated October 13, and additional changes from the 2019 Tentative Budget published on November 20 (which reflected amendments to the October 13 Executive Director’s Recommendation). At the December 6 Public Hearing, the Civic Federation, while overall supportive of the proposed budget, pointed out how confusing and difficult it is to review and comment on this ever-changing budget. The Civic Federation’s recommendation was that the final form of the budget that is to be considered by the Board should be published and made available to the public ahead of time. This is particularly important, said the Civic Federation, because the version of the budget passed by the Board often includes significant increases in the total appropriations and property tax levy from those contained in the Executive Director’s original recommendation, as well as from the Tentative Budget. In this case, the version passed by the Board on December 13 varied from both the October 13 and November 20 versions (which is the version the Civic Federation reviewed and commented on) in a number of ways, including: December 13 October 13 November 20 Total Appropriations: $1,203,988,541 $1,079,658,141 $1,092,299,141 Tax Levy: $ 642,783,809 $ 640,649,270 $ 640,649,270 The Civic Federation also recommended that the MWRD analyze the effect on its pension funding and have fall-back plans in case the District’s pension reform law were to be successfully challenged. Observer - Priscilla Mims
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Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting - December 6, 2018
This was the first Board meeting attended by the 3 new Board members elected in November: Cameron Davis, Kimberly DuBuclet, and Marcelino Garcia. All actively took part in the meeting, which was notable more for the discussion that occurred, than for the decisions made. Issue of Property Insurance
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Observer - Priscila Mims Length of meeting: 2 hours, 5 minutes, including a 5-minute break and 25-minute Executive Session. MWRD Budget Committee Hears Departmental Presentations on 2019 Proposed Budget of $1.092 Billion12/6/2018 Metropolitan Water & Reclamation District Committee on Budget & Employment
Departmental Presentations for 2019 Budget - November 1, 2018 Acting Executive Director John Murray gave an overview of the proposed 2019 budget:
Each Department Head gave a short presentation of 2018 accomplishments and plans for 2019.
Next steps in the budget process:
Observer: Priscilla Mims |
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