Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Water Sewer Rates topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Finance committee directs law director to draft resolution to allocate investment interest to water, sewer funds
Summary
The Tiffin Finance Committee voted to ask the law director to draft a resolution that would pro rata allocate investment interest earnings to the city's water and sewer enterprise funds instead of posting all earnings to the general fund.
The Tiffin Finance Committee on an 3-0 roll-call vote asked the law director to draft a resolution to allocate investment interest earnings pro rata to the city's water and sewer enterprise funds.
Finance director (unnamed) told the committee that several Ohio cities post investment interest directly to enterprise funds and provided a model and calculations showing how doing the same would have affected the city's recent finances. The director said that, for 2024, interest posted pro rata would have credited the water fund $36,517 and the sewer fund $142,839. The director said the projected revenue increase tied to the 2025 rate change for water is $566,668 and for sewer is $161,772, meaning the 2024 interest allocation would have materially reduced the net increase residents saw on the sewer side.
The finance director presented three options: take no action and continue posting interest to the general fund; authorize the law director to draft a resolution requiring interest earnings to follow the enterprise funds; or have council make an annual election on how to allocate earnings. Committee members voted to move the second option forward and asked that the law director craft legislation for council consideration. The motion passed on roll call: Mr. Cassidy: yes; Mr. Podak: yes; Chair: yes.
Committee discussion emphasized that the water fund is the principal constraint keeping the city in fiscal emergency, and committee members said directing investment earnings to enterprise funds could help reduce future rate pressure. One committee member noted that the resolution could be made effective promptly and discussed whether to treat it as an emergency measure or to read it three times, but the committee voted only to direct the law director to draft the resolution and did not itself adopt the ordinance or make the allocation effective.
The committee requested draft legislation for council action; the finance director said staff would work with the law director on language and timing. The committee did not record an effective start date for the allocation; staff said they would propose timing and any transitional mechanics in the draft resolution.
