Consultant presents water and electric fund forecasts; staff outlines options including phased rate changes

Ari, a consultant from Waterworld, presented multi‑year financial models for Goodland’s water and electric funds, showing how operating expenses, deposit assumptions and purchase‑power costs affect reserves and potential rate decisions.

For the water fund Ari said the model includes actuals for 2022–24, the 2025 budget and forecasts beyond 2025. He told commissioners the 2025 debt-service estimate in the model is $277,000 and showed a scenario that reduces deposit assumptions while increasing rate revenue by 2% annually; that scenario produced a more stable cash position than the baseline forecast. "If we reduce deposits and add 2% per year, the cash position is quite stable," Ari said.

On electric finances, Ari presented two models. Using 2024 actuals, eliminating the operating cost adjustment (OCA) would require roughly a 15% one‑time increase in base rates to cover purchase‑power costs; using the 2025 budget (which staff said includes an approximately $1,000,000 increase in purchase‑power costs) the comparable increase could be roughly 25%. Ari and staff discussed alternatives such as phasing changes, linking OCA specifically to power cost rather than all operating expenses, or modest annual rate increases rather than a single large adjustment. "If you want to eliminate the cost adjuster it would mean that we would have to increase... about 15%" Ari said, noting the figure depends on the model used.

Commissioners asked about customer messaging; the mayor and others urged staff to present these findings in a digestible way for residents and said staff should return with short‑term recommendations and clearer rate cards. Ari said he and staff will prepare additional scenarios and proposals for future meetings before any decision is made.