The 2018 Budget includes $185,000 for the installation and replacement of water meters, and the testing and repair of larger meters and backflow preventers. This ongoing work has historically served to meet regulatory requirements, ensure a safe water supply, and maximize the accuracy of our large water meters for accountability and billing purposes.

Typically these contractual services were focused on testing and verification of operability and accuracy with minor maintenance. This year a large proportion of tested water meters and backflow devices required major maintenance, and in some circumstances replacement. This maintenance work was performed to ensure operability and accuracy of the meters. Staff anticipates that this trend of higher anticipated repair costs will continue through 2019 and the 2019 draft budget includes a proposed increase of $67,500 bringing the total for Contractual Water Meter and Backflow Testing to $252,500.

For the current budget year, Staff would like to transfer funds from the Water and Sewer Contingency Fund in the amount of $55,000 into the Contractual Meter and Backflow program. This will enable the continuance of this program until the end of the year, and allow for the accurate billing of the large meters that are being tested and rebuilt. The recovered revenue from large volume inaccurate/nonoperational meters generally offsets the added expense of extensive maintenance over time.

Sufficient funds are available for this expenditure in the Water and Sewer Contingency Fund. Staff therefore recommends a $55,000 transfer to the Contractual Water Meter and Backflow Testing account to accommodate the overage.

RECOMMENDATION

It is recommended that the Village Board approve a budget transfer of $55,000 from the Water and Sewer Operating Contingency (505-9901-591.40-96) to Contractual Water Meter and Backflow Testing  (505-7201-561.21-35) to cover the additional contractual costs until year end.