Fifty Degree Drop

I'd just finished mowing the back yard and had a light sweat going as I put the lawnmower back in the garage.  A huge northerly gust blew leaves and dust over the house and I could feel the coolness.  I closed the garage door to keep the heat in and drove my toasty warm car to the gas pump.  I watched the temperature indicator drop from 81 degrees to 47 in less than an hour.  It read 27 degrees a few minutes ago.  That's a 54 degree drop according to my car's thermometer.  The weather may be as crazy as our times. 

New Year's Water Bills to Rise $6.56 Per Month

City Council chose to raise water rates another $6.56 per month.  The water rate increase is $3.84 and the water reclamation portion will go up $2.72.  I don't know many people who got a 12% raise this past year. 

The City's internal accounting documents differ from the numbers shown in the presentation to Council.  I'd hoped staff would speak to what caused the discrepancy but neither Bill Riley or Morgan Chedwiggen addressed the Bluebook's extra $4 million in Water Reclamation fund balance.

Council would be advised to consider citizen's response to the last water bill increase.  Usage plummeted even during dry years..  

I expect City leaders to drive down water usage further with their five year 55% water rate increase.  Year 2 of the plan starts January 1, 2017.  

Council to Consider Water Bill Rebate

City Staff plan to recommend citizens not get a water rebate this Christmas.  A memo prepared for City Council concludes:

"Since unaudited Water Operations fund balance is less than the goal, it would not be fiscally prudent to issue a rebate at this time; therefore, staff does not recommend issuing a rebate."  

The Water Advisory Board agreed with staff during their last meeting.

The City's September 2016 Blue Book accounting document lists eleven water funds, a mix of operating, debt service, capital and trust funds.  Citizen's monthly municipal bills fund these eleven accounts.

Oddly, terms used in the water rebate discussion do not exist in the city's accounting system.  One can conclude that Water Operations coincides with the accounting system's Water Enterprise Fund.  Their $1.5 million fund balance matches to the dollar.

However, Wastewater Operations does not have a clear accounting counterpart, although it appears to be a subset of Water Reclamation, which has a considerably larger fund balance of nearly $7.5 million.  That's over twice the size of Wastewater Operations fund balance of nearly $3.4 million.

The City did not include the Stormwater fund balance of $2.9 million in its rebate considerations.  The monthly bill from the city includes fees for stormwater, sewer and water.  Total fund balance across these eleven funds as of 9-30-16 was $44.9 million. 

Council should be concerned about the lack of alignment between terms used by staff and the city's accounting system.  I question the $4.1 million difference in fund balance for Wastewater/Reclamation, as that clearly effects any possible citizen rebate.  Hopefully, staff will be prepared to educate Council members and the public.

As then City Councilman Morrison noted years ago, there's millions running through these water funds and there's never any money leftover to give back to citizens.  That's still the case.

Update 12-6-16:  City Council did not approve a rebate and worse they added $3.85 per month to the water bill, costing citizens roughly another $50 per year.  That Standard Times article did not address the discrepancy between Wastewater Operations and Reclamation fund balance that exists in the city's Bluebook accounting document for September 2016.

City Wants to Wheeler-Deal Ford Ranch

The Standard Times reported:

The city of San Angelo is seeking to purchase the land overlying its Hickory Aquifer water leases.

City Council met Monday morning and authorized its staff to negotiate the purchase, with authority to pay up to $1,350 per acre for the Ford Ranch, the 32,000-acre McCulloch County property where the well field is located. The transaction could involve up to $43 million.

The city says the purchase price can be funded out of the water revenue fund. City water customers saw a rate increase last year intended to finance water infrastructure projects up to $136 million, and the ranch purchase would fall within that scope.

The ranch could be resold at some point in the future, with the city in control of the water lease terms.  "We could fully determine how much water any future owner could use. In doing so, San Angelo could protect what is rightfully ours … with the added benefit of reselling the ranch once we had and recouping much of the purchase price."

Right now the city is both the lessee and lessor.  Stay tuned for how this works out.  In the meantime your water bill is paying for the city's future development of this property. 

Sales Tax Decline Consistent for FY 2016

The City of San Angelo Development Corporation board met last week and heard staff's hope that the sales tax situation might be improving.

"We did end the year just slightly under budget for sales tax revenue.  However our most recent month over month comparing with last year we were up just slightly at 0.39%.  So we're hopeful going forward that will continue to see that upward trend."

"Slightly under budget for sales tax revenue" was a shortfall of $510,399.  That's nearly one month of sales tax revenue.  September 2016's sales tax revenue came in 12.6% or $88,647 below 2015's.  I'm not sure how that's upward for the month.  Also, one month of data does not make a trend.

The shortfall when comparing the last two years of actual data came in at nearly $1.2 million or 12.5%.  Hope is a good thing, so are knowledge and faith.  I pray our economy stabilizes and expands in a way that helps people living here. 

City Aided Nasworthy Development Progresses

San Angelo's City Council will address a possible zoning change from Ranch and Estate to General Commercial for 30 acres at the old WTU energy plant.  The land is owned by Glen Meadows Baptist Church, having purchased it from Joe and Mark Walraven in January of this year.  

Oddly, City Council rezoned another plot of Lake Nasworthy land in October 2013 for Fleet Equipment Leasing for development of single family residences.

Z 13 -32: Fleet Equipment Leasing, LLP. AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 12, EXHIBIT “A” OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES, CITY OF SAN ANGELO, TEXAS, WHICH SAID EXHIBIT “A” OF CHAPTER 12 ADOPTS ZONING REGULATIONS, USE DISTRICTS AND A ZONING MAP, IN ACCORDANCE WITH A COMPREHENSIVE PLAN, BY CHANGING THE ZONING AND CLASSIFICATION OF THE FOLLOWING PROPERTY, TO W IT: An unaddressed tract occupying a 25.822 acres tract located south of Red Bluff Road and Hillside Drive; more specifically being 25.822 acres out of 96.314 acres of the Christoph Voight Survey 181, Abstract 3931 and Carl Dammann Survey 180, Abstract 141 in far southwest San Angelo. This property is described on a Preliminary Plat titled “The Canals at Lake Nasworthy” and occupies all of Blocks 6 and 7, changing the zoning classification from a Ranch & Estate (R&E) to a Single -Family Residential (RS -1) D istrict; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY AND PROVIDING A PENALTY 

Fleet Equipment Leasing is owned by the same Walravens who sold the old power plant site to Glen Meadows.

The land rezoned in 2013 is on the back part of Gun Club Road, a popular walking/running site for area citizens. That same October 2013 meeting had City Councilman Rodney Fleming saying:

Councilmember Fleming suggested decreasing the number of pedestrian traffic on this road. He proposed installing pipe fencing in the illegal parking area and removing the park benches and trash receptacles from the area. Mr. Fleming suggested utilizing Lake Nasworthy trust funds to pay for the project.

Public comments were made by Citizens Tad Logan , Rob Ehlers, Marilyn Ross, and Kirby Vanover in support of the project.

Councilmember Fleming suggested moving forward with the prohibition of parking within the area. Responding to a question by Councilmember Farmer, Chief Tim Vasquez stated citations are issued, pedestrians are police d, the area is regular ly patrolled , and he suggested privatizing the road or designate as a one -way road. In conclusion, City Council suggested staff present options at a future meeting possibly utilizing the Lake Nasworthy Trust funds to fund the project .

Executive Director Public Works Ricky Dickson presented a plan to sell city land to facilitate the development of the Canals at Lake Nasworthy in December 2014.

Oddly, this deal was not with Fleet Equipment Leasing, who'd pursued the zoning change, but with Psalms 100 Development LLC, a developer the city selected in July 2014 after an RFP process.

Consideration of authorizing the City Manager to enter into a Real Estate Sales Contract and a Development Agreement with Psalm 100 Development, LLC in substantially the attached forms for the sale and development of two tracts of land totaling 5.297 acres (1.682 acres and 3.615 acres) out of Christoph Vought Survey 181, Abstract 3931, and as part of the consideration accept from Psalm 100 Development 5.623 acres of land out of Christoph Vought Survey 181, Abstract 3931; and authorizing the Mayor or City Manager to execute an easement and right-of-way to Psalm 100 Development, LLC for public access improvements, and to execute such other documents as may be necessary or convenient to the stated purposes.

City Council looked to Councilman Rodney Fleming for guidance.

Councilman Fleming, a professional realtor, did not recuse himself as someone who might personally benefit in the future from said development.  Psalm 100 developed The Palms, which received a final plat from the City in March 2015.

Lots sell from $38,000 to $132,000.  Rodney Fleming's City Council service ended in May of 2016.

Russell Gully's Psalms 100 Development LLC has until 2019 to get the Canals at Lake Nasworthy read for market under its development agreement with the city.  Glen Meadows might want to work faster on their parcel. City Council's background packet for 11-1-16 includes Planning Commission testimony.

Mr. Russell Gully, SKG Engineering, representing Glen Meadows Baptist Church, approached the podium, identified himself, and proceeded to address the Commission. Mr. Gully posited that the Commission should approve the Zone Change as requested opining that churches are more of a “Special Opportunity” than an “Interpretive Center,” as called for in the Lake Nasworthy Master Plan. Mr. Gully continued to opine that a church-affiliated school could only operate within the General Commercial zone. Mr. Gully provided the Commission with some color renderings of proposed buildings.

Mr. Wesley Mikeska, an officer of Glen Meadows Baptist Church, approached the podium, identified himself, and proceeded to address the Commission. He indicated that about 20-25 acres would be sufficient for their development, but the church intended to sell off any surplus land to a suitable buyer at its discretion.

The Planning Commission's WTU zoning change is not what City staff recommended.  It will be interesting to hear what history is shared and Council's discussion and public comment on the item.. 

San Angelo Citizens Conserved Water as City Council Requested

The City of San Angelo's 2015 annual financial report includes a table on the second to last page showing average daily water use history.  It's pictured above:

The impact of the 47.5% water rate increase in September 2011 can clearly be seen as citizens reduced usage.  Citizens went from using 14 million gallons per day in 2011 to 8.8 million gallons per day in 2015.  That's a 37% drop in average daily water usage, exactly what City Council said it wanted.

Citing a desire to encourage conservation, council decided to generate 75 percent of the revenue needed to make payments by increasing water usage rates by $1.31 per 1,000 gallons and 25 percent of the revenue needed to make payments by increasing the base usage rate by 29 percent. 

Citizens doing what Council wanted "blew a hole" in the water budget.  So City Council hired Raftelis at a cost of $107,000 to make the case for fixing the budget hole.  That resulted in a five year plan where rates will rise another 55%.

Council increased rates again in January 2016 by an initial 11.5% of the planned 55%.  The impact of that increase is yet to be seen.

Update 4-4-2017:  Water use for 2016 increased to 10.04 million gallons a day.  The increase occurred after the first 11.5% increase in water rates.  An additional 11.5% increase hit on 1-1-2017.