Warrenton reports wastewater expansion funding, award for financial reporting and $11,320 utility write-offs

Finance officer provided the board with the department’s 2025 accomplishments, fiscal highlights and a request to write off delinquent utility accounts.

The report noted the city secured bond funding of $8,105,000 to support the wastewater treatment plant expansion and received $3,150,000 in legislative priority grant funding for the same project. Staff also said the finance office received an award recognizing excellence in financial reporting. Licensing and transaction volumes were summarized: 253 business licenses and 31 vendor licenses issued and 2,042 accounts-payable checks processed; payroll covered 136 employees.

On collections, staff requested approval to write off 75 utility accounts dating to 2018 totaling $11,320.88. The office described a collections policy that includes a mailed letter and two phone calls before sending accounts to collections, with accounts remaining in collections for seven years before being requested for charge-off. Councilors asked no substantive questions and the item proceeded without debate.

Finance staff also gave a month-ending report for December (preliminary), noting a strong general fund revenue picture, lower-than-expected fines (under $13,000), higher-than-projected license revenues, and mixed results in water/sewer revenues partly offset by investment income. Expense variances were detailed by department, including building, planning and zoning, parks and streets. No specific budget vote beyond the requested write-off was recorded during the meeting.

The board received the financial update; the write-off request was presented for approval and councilors indicated support during the session.