Lamar Utility Board Advised on 2020 Budget

 

Lamar Light Plant Crushed Coal Conveyer

 

Lamar Light Plant Superintendent, Houssin Hourieh, noted that budget talks for 2020 are underway and Capital Outlay will include the scheduled 69KV breaker upgrade, distribution system upgrades, tree trimmings, wind turbine maintenance and safety and training education. An early estimate shows Capital Improvement projects at $985,000 and Operations and Maintenance at $527,500.

Purchase orders totaling $61,015.12 were noted and of that, $48,582.13 required board approval. Bills totaled $1,338,715.97 of which $1,146,034.19 were for power purchases from ARPA.  Lisa Denman, Utility Board Accountant and Hourieh noted that the power purchases usually approach the $1 million mark in at least two of the three summer months.

The minutes for the August 13th Lamar Utility Board meeting were corrected to reflect a ‘no’ vote from member Clifford Boxley regarding the election of Douglas Thrall as board chairman.  Another correction reflected his ‘no’ vote to elect Leo Hernandez as vice-chairman, the nomination being made in Hernandez’s absence from that day’s meeting.  Boxley told the board he believed a nominated candidate should be in attendance to accept or decline the nomination.  Hernandez said he would serve in that capacity during the August 27th meeting.  There was no change on the outcome of the board’s earlier vote.

Hourieh briefed the board on the July 2019 financial report; stating that cash is down for that month, $232,237 from June and accounts receivable are up by $226,705. Total operating revenue for the month is $1,356,501 and operating costs are $1,512,911 resulting in gross operating loss of $156,410.  When the non-operating revenues and expenses are considered, there is a net loss for the month of $320,025.

Total operating expenses for the year are $7,499,963 and total operating costs are $7,168,231 for gross operating income of $331,731. When the non-operating revenues and expenses are considered there is a net loss of $720,773.

When compared to 2018 revenues from retail sales are down approximately $1,406,760 or 16% comparing July 2019 to July 2018 and overall operating expenses are down approximately $258,251 or 3% resulting in a net loss of $720,773 for the year.

The next regularly scheduled Utility Board meeting is Tuesday, September 13th.

By Russ Baldwin

Filed Under: City of LamarConsumer IssuesFeaturedPublic SafetyUtilities

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