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Water & Sewer commissioners present $21.9M budget, add billing-analyst role and promote customer portal
Summary
Water & Sewer Commissioner William Hail presented a $21,897,293 FY27 recommended budget driven by sewer-assessment increases and contractual salary changes; the department proposed a billing-analyst position, described cost pressures (fuel, electricity, GLSD assessments) and urged customers to sign up for the department’s customer portal for account access and leak alerts.
William Hail, Water and Sewer Commissioner, presented the department’s FY27 recommended budget of $21,897,293, citing increases primarily driven by sewer-assessments, contractual salary adjustments, fuel and energy cost increases, and a reallocation to support a new billing-analyst position. Hail said the enterprise remains self-sustaining and that revenues fund operations and salaries within the water and sewer enterprise.
The presentation broke the budget into sewer and water administration and operations. Hail described a $504,458 increase in sewer costs (including a larger assessment for the regional sewer authority) and reductions in some water-administration line items due to loans paid off or conservative machinery-equipment assumptions. He said professional and engineering service funds were increased for stormwater plan review and on-call engineering during emergencies.
Hail also described an existing customer portal that allows residents to view usage and account numbers on their phones and to set alerts for unusual usage or leaks; he said staff will re-promote the portal and provide instructions for councillors and constituents. Councillors requested follow-up documentation about a recent billing-payment portal bug; Hail said that issue was a temporary data-transfer problem and had been resolved.
The committee closed the water and sewer hearing and included the materials in the FY27 packet that will be sent to the full council.
