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Talent plans AMI roll‑out and readies for likely wholesale water cost increases
Summary
The committee reviewed the water fund budget, including rollout costs for advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), consultant and software fees, and a recommendation to run a rate study because Metro Water Commission wholesale charges could rise roughly 15% next year; staff also discussed tools AMI will provide for leak detection and billing.
City finance and public‑works staff told the budget committee the draft water fund budget includes costs for the city's advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) project and consultant work expected to support a rate study, and staff said they will ask the committee to consider higher wholesale charges when finalizing the proposal.
Finance Director Tessa DeLine said the AMI program will add annual software and service fees and that the draft includes consultant expense to update the rate model. “When we look at increasing water rates…it’s important we stick with the rate model that we purchased from HDR engineering,” DeLine said, noting a professionally developed model follows AWWA best practices and is defendable.
DeLine told the committee the AMI investment should improve revenue capture and customer service. “When they get old and they're not working well, they're undercounting. So, yeah, it should increase our revenues as well,” she said, and added AMI will also help staff and customers identify leaks earlier: “we could easily identify and give somebody calling, ‘by the way, you've used 5,000 gallons yesterday. What's going on?’”
Staff asked the committee to accept a corrected wholesale water purchase line in the next draft after recent notice from the Metro Water Commission that its rate increase could be around 15%. DeLine said staff will bring updated pages and, if warranted, engage HDR to run the rate model with updated inputs before any formal rate change is proposed to council.
The committee also discussed franchise or internal transfer payments from the enterprise fund to the general fund and timing options for a $1,000,000 loan balloon payment due in 2030; staff said they will return with analysis on debt‑service reserve or prepayment alternatives.
