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Council pushes timeline for separating general and utility funds; staff recommends Stantec modeling
Summary
Councilors set interim deadlines for finance work: staff to produce utility-rate models by March 1 and a target of June 30, 2026 for structural balance, while debating whether to hire Davenport or use Stantec's existing models.
Councilors focused much of the morning on a key fiscal strategy: creating a long-term plan to separate general-fund and utility-fund finances. Presenter (S3) and finance staff (S6) explained how to make the strategy actionable by attaching dates and deliverables.
Staff (S6) told the council the town already uses rate models (built by Stantec) and estimated the cost of running updated models at roughly $15,000–$25,000 depending on scope. The council discussed whether to commission Davenport (a financial adviser mentioned in prior discussions) or rely on Stantec. Council member (S2) and others expressed concern about hiring consultants repeatedly because of cost; staff emphasized that Stantec has existing models that can be updated efficiently. One concrete task the council discussed was a March 1 deadline for utility-rate model results and a June 30, 2026 target connected to next fiscal-year budget adoption.
"By March 1, work with them to develop utility rate models with no general transfers to the utility fund in the long term," Presenter (S3) said as a formulation the council could adopt into an actionable strategy. Staff (S6) added: "We ran a lot of models this past year. It was $25,000. This is for Stantec not for Davenport."
