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Sarpy County wastewater agency reports ‘first flush,’ considers WIFIA loan modification and reviews clean audit
Summary
Agency administrator Dan Hoynes reported the system’s first flow on Dec. 20 and told members a resolution to seek modification of the WIFIA loan will be brought in February; treasurer Mark Sedout presented a financial dashboard showing revenues above budget and auditors delivered an unmodified opinion with two internal-control findings.
The Sarpy County and City Wastewater Agency said it completed its official “first flush” of wastewater on Dec. 20 and is preparing a resolution to seek modification of its WIFIA loan to fund design, permitting and easement acquisition for the next phases of its master plan.
The announcement came during the agency’s regular meeting Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, when Dan Hoynes, agency administrator, told member mayors and representatives that “we had our official first flush on Dec. 20 at 05:08PM.” Hoynes said the board can expect a resolution on Feb. 26 authorizing staff to pursue a loan modification and to negotiate terms; he also said the federal review typically takes 45 to 60 days and the county board must also approve any modification.
The matter matters because the modification would free WIFIA loan proceeds to cover design, permitting and easement acquisitions needed for phase 1B and phase 2 of the agency master plan, steps Hoynes said are necessary before construction. Hoynes told members the agency is lined up to present contracts for those work elements after a loan modification is secured.
In other program updates, Hoynes said staff are monitoring LB 117, a Nebraska legislative bill under consideration that would affect sales and use tax and related exemptions; he said the agency generated about $713,000 in pilot revenues last year and that changes to state tax law could have a material revenue impact. He also described ongoing coordination with Springfield to confirm actual wastewater flow and inflow/infiltration numbers before fully switching off the Springfield line; he said engineer Jeremy Walker and agency staff are “closer, but not fully resolved” on that operational step.
Mark Sedout, the agency treasurer, presented the monthly financial dashboard covering July 1 through Dec. 31, 2024. Sedout said connection-fee receipts have “already significantly exceeded the budgeted amount of connection fees that was $900,000.” He told the board the agency collected the final installment of the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources contract funds and that total revenue for the period is just over $10 million, about 20% above the adopted budget for the full fiscal year.
Sedout said flow-based revenue was budgeted at about $426,000 for the full year, based on an expectation that flow would begin in the second half of the fiscal year; he said actual flow revenues will depend on completing the Springfield connection but that the budget estimate was conservative.
An audit firm representative reviewed the agency’s fiscal-year 2023–24 audit and delivered an unmodified (clean) opinion on the financial statements as presented. The representative said the audit found two matters: a repeat finding regarding segregation of duties, and a material weakness tied to turnover in the agency’s treasury function during the year that required audit adjustments to the financial statements. The auditor said the agency expended just over $35 million of federal funds during the year, including WIFIA loan activity and coronavirus state and local fiscal recovery funds, and that no material weaknesses were found in compliance testing of those federal programs.
The board approved the consent agenda, which contained two items, on a recorded voice vote: “Yea 6, nays none,” after a motion recorded in the transcript as “Motion by Grant and second by Springfield.”
Hoynes told members staff are preparing a fiscal-year operating budget for the July 1 start of the next fiscal year and plan a work session with member jurisdictions in March to review draft numbers and a proposed reimbursement policy for developers who choose to advance work. He also said the agency’s chair and vice chair, plus staff, have been working on a compensation study and proposed updates to the agency employee manual to clarify pay ranges and raise-award procedures.
The agency expects to present the WIFIA loan-modification resolution at its Feb. 26 meeting. The board adjourned with its next meeting scheduled for Feb. 26, 2025.
