The Sarpy County Board of Commissioners on May 20 approved the Sarpy County & Cities Wastewater Agency fiscal year 2025–26 budget after agency officials described a shift from primary construction toward operations and reported connection-fee revenue above early projections.

The agency drew $17.7 million of a $45 million WIFIA loan as of April 30 and expects roughly $3 million more to reach substantial completion of phase 1A, agency administrator Dan Hoynes said. He told commissioners the agency now expects to use significantly less of the WIFIA loan than earlier projected and will meet with county administration to update financial projections.

The budget adopted by the board uses $934,000 of projected cash on hand to fund operations in fiscal 2026, Mark Sedout, the agency treasurer, said. Sedout told commissioners the agency expects to close the current fiscal year (ending June 30, 2025) with more than $10 million in cash on hand and that the budget anticipates lower income tied to reduced borrowing while continuing some capital and planning expenses.

“The future budget utilizes $934,000 from that cash on hand to fund operations throughout the 2026 fiscal year,” Sedout said. He also warned that, while connection fees and flow revenue appear to be trending higher, “there are too many external variables at this time to project the 25–26 connection fee numbers any differently than they are currently budgeted.”

Sedout and Hoynes both said connection-fee receipts so far have outpaced the agency’s conservative early projections; Sedout said collections were “about 380% over what we had projected,” and added that the trend holds even if a large single developer (referred to in the meeting as “Meta”) is excluded.

The adopted budget shows lower projected income largely because the agency is moving away from major construction borrowing. Line items for operations and maintenance (O&M) overall decline (O&M reduced by about 19% in the agency’s presentation), while O&M equipment purchases rise (an 86% increase in that category) to cover planned purchases such as a Bobcat and a UTV. Personnel and benefits costs are budgeted to rise by about 12%, reflecting an increase in staffing (the agency secretary moved to full time and treasury services were brought in-house).

Hoynes reviewed the system map and said the agency has placed roughly 42 miles of sewer and cold-water blowdown pipe in the ground for the first phase. He described remaining buildout — the agency’s so-called phase 1B and later phases — as developer-driven and estimated the sum of future build segments at roughly $263 million. Hoynes said the agency is pursuing alternatives to borrowing, including reimbursing and partnering with agency members and developers to accelerate construction without tapping property-tax revenue.

The board unanimously approved the resolution to adopt the FY2025–26 budget after a motion by Commissioner Warren and a second by Commissioner Mixon.

Hoynes invited commissioners to a June 9 ceremonial event (referred to as a “first flush”), noting the system has been receiving flows since December and the ceremony will be an on-site recognition with officials present.

Clarifying details discussed at the meeting include:
- WIFIA loan authorized amount: $45,000,000 (agency had drawn $17.7 million as of April 30; anticipated additional draw of about $3,000,000 for completion of phase 1A).
- Projected cash on hand at 6/30/2025: over $10,000,000.
- FY2026 use of cash on hand for operations: $934,000.
- Estimated remaining buildout costs discussed: approximately $263,000,000 (agency estimate).
- Equipment purchases noted in the budget: Bobcat, UTV (O&M equipment category increases while overall O&M budget declines).

Why it matters: The budget move signals a transition from heavy construction borrowing to early operations and rate- and connection-fee–driven cash flows. Commissioners emphasized the need to monitor actual connection-fee collections against projections and to coordinate with county administration on cash management and any remaining loan usage.

The agency and county said they will provide additional, updated slides showing ‘actual’ (flow and connection-fee) revenue and expense figures separate from loan proceeds so commissioners can compare projected versus realized performance in upcoming quarterly reports.

Action: The board adopted Resolution 20205-105 (Sarpy County & Cities Wastewater Agency FY2025–26 budget) by roll-call vote; motion by Commissioner Warren, seconded by Commissioner Mixon; ayes 5, nays 0.

Provenance: The discussion and budget presentation appear in the public meeting transcript during the presentations and item 7.1 portion of the May 20 meeting; agency remarks and the budget vote are contained in the transcript between the agency presentation and the commissioners’ vote on the resolution.