City staff told the Public Utility Advisory Board on July 10 that proposed charter changes would create a new nine‑member utilities board (focused initially on Independence Power & Light) with broader governing authority than the current advisory board structure.

The deputy city manager said council discussions in April and June produced an approach that would have the new board govern IPL and allow the existing Public Utility Advisory Board to remain the recommending policy body for water and wastewater. The deputy city manager told the advisory board, “It has been determined that for now, we're proceeding with this new utility board, governing IPL only and then the existing PUEB to then be the recommending policy body, for water and wastewater.” Staff said a document outlining the proposed charter changes would be presented to City Council at a study session on July 14 and that council would discuss timing for a public vote; staff identified three to five potential election dates between November (this year) and November 2026.

Under the draft language staff described, the new utilities board would have nine members and would have authority to approve the rate structure for IPL and make high‑level personnel decisions; staff said the board could hire and fire the IPL general manager and the comptroller. The deputy city manager said the board would approve rate structure proposals, but the City Council would retain final approval.

Board members and others at the July 10 meeting raised several concerns and questions, including whether the Public Utility Advisory Board should remain involved with IPL as a citizen advisory body, how the new board’s membership would be selected, and whether membership should be limited to avoid partisan majorities. Board member Michael Talcott pressed staff on pilot/franchise fee language in the draft charter that would set a pilot number at about 9.08 percent and on a provision that would allow the council to authorize IPL to provide electricity, water and sewer service to city‑owned buildings and to provide street lighting. Staff said those provisions are included as discussion items and may be adjusted; they noted the city spends about $380,000 per year for streetlight electricity and about $1.2 million per year on electricity for municipal buildings as context for possible offsets to pilot revenue.

Several speakers emphasized the importance of transparency and selecting board members who will inspire public trust. Staff noted the charter language can be revised before council action and that the changes would ultimately go to a public vote if council moves forward with placing the amendment on the ballot.

No formal action on charter language or governance structure was taken at the advisory board meeting; staff asked the advisory board to review the draft and said the document will be discussed with council on July 14.