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Committee approves $15,500 outside rate‑study after debate over consultant role
Summary
The Brainerd City Personnel and Finance Committee authorized a $15,500 contract with UFS to prepare sanitary and storm sewer rate‑design studies after members debated whether to do the work in‑house or hire an outside consultant.
The Brainerd City Personnel and Finance Committee on Oct. 20 authorized staff to enter into an agreement with UFS to prepare a financial plan and rate‑design studies for sanitary and storm sewer rates, accepting a quoted cost of $15,500 ($8,000 sanitary, $7,500 storm).
Staff described the quote as an increase of about $3,400 from the last study and recommended hiring a consultant for independent analysis. "They have more expertise than what staff does in house to determine that," a committee member said, arguing that an outside consultant can determine whether costs should be allocated toward capital fixes or operating flows. The committee member added that the outside review "protects us against raising rates for a certain class" unfairly.
Other members voiced skepticism about relying on consultants to validate spending assumptions. One committee member said, "That's a long way of saying staff doesn't want to be accountable for the final numbers. They want to point to a consultant and say the consultant said that." Another member replied that independent analysis can provide useful checks and balance potential internal bias.
After discussion, the committee voted to authorize staff to execute the UFS agreement and begin the rate‑design studies. Staff said the consultant will provide a report to the committee when complete; the committee did not set a firm public hearing date for rate changes during this meeting.
