The 2022 Budget for Platte Canyon Water and Sanitation was adopted by the Board of Directors on November 19, 2021. The proposed budget projects a revenue of just over $4.7M with operating and capital expenses totaling $5.6M. This will result in a deficit of approximately $937,000 and a reduction in District reserves from $8.7M to $7.8M. The detailed 2022 Budget can be found on the District’s website under Financial Information.
The district has five main sources of revenue. The following is the projected revenue from each source in 2022:
Property and Specific Ownership Tax – $2.18M (46.4%) – This revenue comes from the mill levy that is applied to properties in the District. For 2022, the property tax mill levy will remain at 7.104 mills, which is the same levy assessed since 2005.
Contract Maintenance – $1.5M (32.3%) – the District provides administrative and facility maintenance services provided to the nearby water and sewer utilities of Southwest Metropolitan, Bow Mar, and Columbine Water and Sanitation Districts, and also Valley Sanitation District.
Projected Service Charge – $960,000 (20.6%) –The monthly service charge or “infrastructure fee” implemented by the board of directors in October 2019 of $5.00 per ¾” equivalent (tap size) service connection will be increased to $12.00 per month beginning in 2022. The increase in the service fee will allow the district to maintain adequate reserves and mitigate the impact of significant increases in construction labor and materials cost to perform the water main replacements required in the next ten years. The fee will be assessed at $12 per month at least until the end of 2022.
Investment Income – $34,880 (0.74%) – This is interest earned on the district’s reserves. Recent economic conditions have significantly impacted market yields resulting in the decline in investment revenue.
System Development – No tap fee revenue is projected for 2022. Water and sanitary sewer tap permits continue to decline because there is little undeveloped property within the District boundaries.
District expenditures are as follows:
Operating Expenses – $2.97M
Personnel Expenses – $1.95M (65.7%) – The District is largely a service-oriented organization with most of the administration and facility maintenance and operations performed by 14 full time employees. Therefore, most of the operating expenses are related to personnel costs.
Operations – $430,300 (14.5%) – The budget for contract emergencies is projected to increase by $80,000 in 2022 due to an average failure rate of one water main break a month in 2021. The District requires emergency and remedial maintenance services such as excavation work and street restoration. Those are performed by outside contractors.
All Other Expenses -$588,677 (19.8%) – Also in the operating expenses are items such as production of the District newsletter, maintenance of the website, maintenance of computer and office equipment, dues for membership in professional associations, and contracting for legal and engineering services.
Capital Projects and Expenses – $2.65M
Three water main replacement projects are budgeted for 2022 and involve the replacement of aging cast iron pipe with PVC pipe in the Columbine Hills subdivision. A detailed explanation of the three projects can be found in the district’s Capital Master Plan.
