Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Norman staff outline FYE 2027 enterprise funds: sanitation tipping fees, water purchases and capital projects highlighted
Summary
City staff presented proposed FYE 2027 budgets for enterprise funds. Key details: sanitation tipping fees ~$3.125M, sanitation rate unchanged after ~15 years, proposed capital outlays (vehicle replacements, compost facility), water purchases from Oklahoma City (~1.5M gallons/day take or pay at $3.28/1,000) and a multi‑million meter/infrastructure program next year.
City staff gave a detailed overview of the proposed FYE 2027 enterprise funds budget at the May 19 Norman City Council study session covering sanitation, water, water reclamation, sewer maintenance and new development excise tax funds.
On sanitation, staff reported the city handles over 100,000 tons annually (residential and commercial collections) and noted curbside recycling is now provided in‑house. The current monthly sanitation rate cited in the presentation was $17.20 per household (including $3 for curbside recycling). Staff flagged that the landfill tipping fee included in the proposed budget remains about $3,125,000 for FY27 and that the sanitation fund’s projected ending fund balance is roughly $5,570,000.
Staff said a Raftel cost‑of‑service study is underway and noted the sanitation rate has not changed in about 15 years; an illustrative study result raised the possibility of a modest per‑customer increase (examples discussed by staff included roughly a $2/month adjustment as part of next‑year considerations).
Water utility presenters described annual production measured in billions of gallons and explained the city’s wholesale contract arrangements. The FY27 proposed budget includes about $2,330,000 for Oklahoma City water purchases (presenters said this represents a 1.5 million gallons per day take‑or‑pay contract at a unit cost quoted in the presentation). Major proposed capital work highlighted for water included a $16,000,000 meter infrastructure program and a $7,000,000 groundwater facility project in the near term.
For water reclamation and sewer maintenance, staff noted plant capacity trends, maintenance workloads (hundreds of miles of lines and thousands of hydrants/valves maintained annually), and several multi‑million dollar projects carried forward into FY27. The sewer maintenance program (a $5 monthly fee established in 2001) funds pay‑as‑you‑go replacement and rehabilitation projects; staff reported over 500,000 feet of sewer line rehabilitation funded since inception.
Councilors asked about Ward‑level recycling service, truck replacement schedules and water loss efforts. Staff described a new automated meter installation that will provide hourly reads (improving leak detection) and said they will provide additional fleet/mileage and operational details to council.
Staff will bring the enterprise fund budgets to the final public hearing next Tuesday and return a proposed budget for council adoption on June 9.
