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Lyon County to pursue transition of Silver Springs GID billing services after negotiations fail to reach countyoffer
Summary
After discussing rates and workload, the commissioners directed staff to negotiate with the Silver Springs Municipal Water Company and, if the utility would not accept the countymanager's $4,500/month offer, to terminate the contract and transition billing and locate services to county operations by June 30.
The Lyon County Board of County Commissioners voted on April 17 to direct county staff to negotiate a contract with Silver Springs Municipal Water Company to continue billing and related services for the Silver Springs General Improvement District (GID). The board also authorized staff to finalize transition plans and terminate the private contract if the company would not accept the countyoffered rate.
Background and dispute County staff said the county has contracted with the municipal water company since 2007 to perform billing, customer service and utility-location services for the Silver Springs GID sewer system. In February the municipal water company requested a contract increase from $3,000 per month to $6,000 per month, citing long-term CPI increases and higher operating costs. County staff said a comparable in-house cost would be lower and proposed a best-and-final offer of $4,500 per month.
County analysis and board action Utilities staff said the county could provide comparable services (billing, customer service and USA locate work) with existing county personnel at an estimated $4,500 per month, lower than the municipal company's requested level. The county also noted that the municipal company proposes stepped increases over several years (for example, $5,000 month in year one, $5,500 in year two, $6,000 in year three in their proposal).
The board voted 5-0 to authorize staff to negotiate and, if the parties could not agree to the county position ($4,500 monthly), to give notice and transition services to county operations. County staff noted the contract contains a 90-day termination provision; if notice is given promptly the county would assume operations July 1.
Why it matters: The decision affects about 1,000 service accounts in Silver Springs and will shift billing, customer-service and underground-locate functions to county utilities if an agreement is not reached. Commissioners asked staff to minimize service interruptions and to account for any potential job or workload impacts at the municipal water company.
Speakers quoted in this article are drawn from the county utilities staff discussion and commissioner remarks at the April 17 meeting.
