Finance staff report: sanitation fund shows negative net position driven by pension and post-closure liabilities

DeKalb County finance staff presented enterprise operating statements to the Finance, Audit & Budget Committee, highlighting that the sanitation fund’s negative beginning net position reflects large unfunded pension liabilities and long-term postclosure landfill obligations.

Director of Financial Statements Diane McNab reviewed enterprise funds including watershed, sanitation, airport and stormwater. On sanitation she said the beginning net position was negative (about $13 million) and attributed much of the deficit to an unfunded pension liability and an accrued postclosure cost liability for landfill monitoring and closure. "We have a big unfunded pension liability" and "a big postclosure cost liability," staff said during the discussion.

Policy and rates: Staff said the county intends to present a multi-year rate increase that would begin to address operating shortfalls and reduce the deficit over several years, and they agreed to provide a five‑year illustration showing how the proposed increases would eat into the liabilities. Commissioners requested a breakout showing how much of the liabilities are pension-related versus postclosure-related; staff agreed to provide that detail.

Other funds: McNab said watershed revenues are under budget pending approvals but higher than the prior year; airport revenues are also short of budget pending approvals and staff will provide subcategory breakdowns in future reports; stormwater showed a year‑to‑date net increase tied to transfers for capital projects and recent journal entries.

Next steps: Staff will return with detailed governmental‑fund financials in a subsequent quarterly report, supply a five‑year sanitation rate plan and separate the pension and landfill closure liabilities for commissioner review.