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Officials Press for Cost‑of‑Service Analysis as SAWS Ownership and Operations Documents Are Updated
Summary
City and county participants said updates to SAWS operating and ownership agreements should precede a cost‑of‑service study for rural customers; participants recalled prior public interest in rate impacts if SAWS were dissolved into city operations.
Council and joint‑powers members discussed updates to the SAWS (service authority) operating and ownership documents and flagged the need for a cost‑of‑service analysis to determine how rates would affect rural customers if dissolution were ever reconsidered.
An unidentified participant who serves on the joint powers board said prior public meetings left residents wanting clearer information on how a dissolution would change customer bills. He described the cost‑of‑service analysis as distinct from routine annual rate work and said it would "take a deeper look into what the actual cost is to deliver water to the more sparsely populated area" served by SAWS.
The group noted a previously stated estimate that dissolution could produce savings in the range of "35 to 45%" for some customers; participants cautioned that prior discussions stopped short of completing the data residents sought. "When we had this discussion at that time, it was stated... 35 to 45%." (Speaker in transcript)
Madam Chair (Unidentified Speaker 1) emphasized that updating the operating and ownership agreements now is not a move toward dissolution and described the current effort as document modernization to enable future analysis: "Updating the documents right now is not about dissolution. That's not what we're talking about as we're updating these plans."
Members committed to updating agreements first and then using the revised documents as the foundation for any future cost‑of‑service work. The SAWS board will receive a Lake Deschmitt waterline update at an upcoming SAWS meeting; participants noted that large capital projects could affect future cost studies and rates.
