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Council reviews utility, water-park and treatment-plant budgets; staff warns of start-up shortfalls
Summary
Treasurer Dan Bon briefed the council on the utility fund (including a $600,000 Harbor Road Wellhouse grant), the end of a 20% residential credit, and the water park’s projected FY27 shortfall of $176,380; councilors asked for salary detail, pay-scale plans and clearer resident-discount proposals for the park.
Treasurer Dan Bon led a detailed budget review at the May 12 work session, covering the utility fund, water park and treatment-plant allocations.
On the utility side Bon said revenues were prepared from the council-approved rate study and noted the 20% utility credit provided to residents from January 2025 through June 2026 has ended. He told council members the town also received a $600,000 state bond grant earmarked for the Harbor Road Wellhouse; that amount appears on both the revenue and capital-expenditure lines for the utility fund. Bon said overall projected utility revenues exceed expenditures by $566,144 in the near term, but that large water-treatment capital projects in FY28–FY29 will require substantial funds from the utility share.
Council members questioned whether the previously discussed rates had been formally approved; staff clarified that the council has reached a consensus in work sessions but formal rate adoption will occur when the budget with the rate schedule is approved at a regular meeting. Members also pressed on equity concerns, saying the tiered structure shifts a larger share of the burden to residential users compared with commercial accounts.
Bon walked through the expenditure side: fixed and variable allocations to the wastewater plant, capital projects at $665,000 (including $65,000 for F Street repairs and $600,000 for Harbor Road), and planned connection fees (two properties with $10,000 water and $20,000 sewer taps each). He also explained debt-service timing, noting one bond matures in FY27 and another in FY28.
The council asked for staff detail on salaries. Several members requested a closed session to review the full salary schedule and supporting allocation spreadsheets before adopting budgets, and urged staff to develop a formal pay-scale project during the next year.
On accounting matters staff and council debated whether to present depreciation in the annual operating budget; Bon said depreciation is a non-cash expense recorded in audited financial statements but not required for cash budgeting. He described a fixed-asset spreadsheet that will be used to track capital additions and subsequent depreciation in the audit.
Water-park operations were discussed at length. Staff said the park is planned to reopen before the end of FY27; because startup costs (training, marketing, technology) occur before the full season, fiscal-year 27 will require approximately $176,380 from the general fund to cover the shortfall. For a full operating year staff estimate a first-season deficit of roughly $79,000. Admission, season-pass pricing and wage assumptions were based on research of comparable operators; staff indicated a $125,000 technology line for entry/point-of-sale systems and agreed to supply a written summary that includes recommended resident discounts and rate assumptions.
Ending: Councilors asked staff to circulate salary schedules and the written water-park revenue assumptions in advance of the next meeting. Formal votes on budgets and rates are expected at the next regular council meeting after the closed-session salary review.
