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Trustee pulls water purchase orders after questioning wide billing disparities; staff says leaks and reclaimed systems explain differences
Summary
A trustee asked for further review of March warrant list water purchase order increases after spotting large disparities among school sites; district staff explained increases are adjustments to encumber funds for year‑end bills and cited a recent water leak and differing utility rates as causes.
Trustee Dr. Joseph Komarowski pulled items from the March warrant list Tuesday to raise questions about large disparities in utility water purchase orders at several elementary schools.
He pointed out that Crown Hill Elementary’s water line item appeared much larger than neighboring schools and asked staff to explain the discrepancy before he would feel comfortable voting to approve. “Did somebody leave the water on for a month?” Komarowski asked.
Nicole Lash, the district’s budget/accounting lead, explained the entries are increases to existing purchase orders — not the total annual costs — and that the district opens yearly purchase orders in July and adjusts them throughout the year to ensure bills can be paid against encumbrances. Lash said Crown Hill’s initial line item contained a typo and that the district projects Crown Hill’s total annual water spend at roughly $26,000. She also noted maintenance crews uncovered an underground leak at a campus that contributed to higher usage; that repair work began during spring break.
District staff described additional factors that cause variation among sites, including reclaimed water systems, differences in irrigation and field sizes, and disparate per‑unit rates charged by different local utilities.
Board President Dr. Melinda Anderson asked staff to meet with Trustee Komarowski and provide a breakdown of the water charges by school site. Komarowski said he would not vote on the warrant items without that follow‑up. The board ultimately approved the rest of the consent calendar, leaving the pulled items on the agenda for further discussion at the next meeting.
What to watch: Staff committed to provide detailed purchase‑order and billing breakdowns for the pulled sites at the next meeting and to flag any anomalies discovered by the district’s energy‑management monitoring software.
