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Utility director urges asset-management overhaul ahead of HA 1459 reporting deadline
Summary
Utility Director Rob Schneider told the Lawrenceburg City board the utility lacks clear roles, documentation and adequate depreciation accounting and laid out plans — including a sewer rate study with Hazen and Sawyer and an asset inventory in 2026–27 — to meet HA 1459 reporting due July 1.
Utility Director Rob Schneider told the Lawrenceburg City board that the utility lacks clearly defined roles, documented workflows and a usable asset-depreciation system, leaving the utility unprepared for reporting required under HA 1459.
Schneider said the initial HA 1459 water report is due July 1 and that the board must establish asset-management procedures, new documentation practices and a rate-study model to demonstrate financial sustainability. "Pressure makes diamonds," he said, quoting a maxim to argue that public scrutiny will ultimately strengthen operations.
Why it matters: HA 1459 requires utilities to submit information about financial sustainability, asset-management plans and board training; repeated deficiencies could lead to escalated state actions. Schneider said assembling accurate inventories and depreciation schedules is essential both to meet the law and to position the utility for grants and the state revolving fund.
Schneider outlined immediate and near-term steps: use professional services to rewrite depreciation and asset-categorization rules; run a sewer rate study first and incorporate asset-management parameters into a model that can be updated over time; and complete a utility-wide asset inventory across 2026–2027. He said Hazen and Sawyer will assist with the model-based rate study and the initial reporting work and that the sewer study would be before the board for approval at the next meeting.
The director cited the utility's current accounting discrepancy as a major challenge: "There has been about $33 million in depreciated assets but only $5 million in depreciation accounts," Schneider said, adding that the current records and lump-sum categories (dating back decades) do not present an accurate picture of replacement needs.
Board members pressed on tradeoffs. One committee member said trying to raise rates enough to close a multi‑million‑dollar shortfall would be "not feasible," and Schneider agreed that the first step is building reliable numbers and a plan rather than immediately seeking large rate increases.
Schneider also discussed funding avenues: staff are tracking planning grants, state block grants (he noted recent awards up to about $750,000 in some communities) and the state revolving fund, but he said eligibility for SRF financing requires an asset-management plan the utility does not yet meet. He urged staff to check upcoming grant cycles and flagged that some funding may become available to address system deficiencies.
Next steps: staff will pursue the sewer rate study with Hazen and Sawyer, assemble the HA 1459 submission with professional assistance, begin an inventory in 2026–2027, and return to the board with modeled rate impacts as parameters are refined.
The board did not take a formal vote on the presentation; Schneider asked for ongoing engagement and for board members to review step-by-step proposals as they are developed.
