Customer concerns over budget, billing, past, dominate water board meeting

CATALDO — The tension was palpable, but that didn’t stop the Cataldo Water District from handling their business during their monthly board meeting last week.

“I just want to say, you guys might all think that I’m opposed to seeing everybody here, but I think this is more of an encouragement. Every board should have this type of participation. Hospital board, school board, I don’t see this as a negative thing. I see it as positive, and I appreciate your willingness to come in,” said Cataldo Water District (CWD) board member Danny Peterson in the crowded room of concerned customers.

Joining Peterson were board members Daniel Waldo, Lisa Eaton, Cathleen House, Ed Hanson as well as Robin Hei and Karen Maravilla as clerks.

This is the second month that the small building has been filled with customers wanting to share their concerns and complaints with the board, specifically over the water bill rate increase and an increased budget.

Customers are concerned over the water bill rate increase, seeing their monthly bills go from $28 per month to $45 plus an additional $1.50 for every 1,000 gallons of water used. This is a significant change for customers who had been paying less while receiving their first 10,000 gallons of water per month free under previous budgets.

The 2022-2023 budget increase has also garnered some concern – including customers questioning the budget being raised to $187,825 when the previous district clerk had reported the 2021-2022 budget as $85,900 – more than $100,000.

However, it’s not just the customers who are frustrated with some of the changes that have been made; the 2022-2023 budget has already been decided and now the board needs to move on to other business even if they would like to reexamine the budget.

“We would answer all your questions, but we’ve been advised that the budget’s approved. The rate increase is done. It’s over with. We are not supposed to go back and have comment after comment,” CWD board member Lisa Eaton explained.

The tertiary concern of customers, many of whom were previous board members themselves, stems from comments made by the chairman at a previous meeting – including a claim that the district has been operating in the red for the past 12 years.

Board members and maintenance employees attempted to assuage customer concerns by displaying and explaining how many of the routine parts and pieces required for a functioning water system have been used for several years and that there has been a major increase in cost for those same parts.

“It used to be, if someone came along with a request for a new service, they would ask how much are the materials going to cost? I could budget for $700,” Kingston-Cataldo Sewer District employee Jon Groth, “For quite a few years we have been able to say, that if you budget a few bucks, you can get it done for $600. But this year, prices have gone through the roof, and items aren’t as easy to get.”

Maintenance employee Heath Ransom explained that the water meters previously cost around $120 and have since increased to $175.

Near the end of the meeting, Hei and Maravilla discussed some highlighted customer topics of contention – including the costs associated with the building they rent for their office.

“People are really upset that our rent has gone up here. So we looked into what it would take for us to work out of a building the CWD owns. The storage shed is where we would be,” explained Hei, “We would have to find somewhere else to put everything stored in there. There are also regulations that must be followed, like wheelchair accessibility.”

Also discussed was the budget, as many customers, including board members, received paperwork showing previous budgets lined up with the ‘actual’ budget.

“Customers had questions about the current budget not lining up with the historical budget,” said Hei, “We have spoken with the Idaho Central Registry, and they have shared concerns that the historical numbers have continually overspent their bottom-line budget.”

The Idaho Central Registry was established in accordance with Idaho Code and serves as the unified location for the reporting of and access to financial information of local governing entities in Idaho, operating under the authority of the Idaho State Controller’s Office.

Maravilla then continued, “therefore, when the members of the public are saying that the budget went up by 119%, that’s not true. Our budget went up 60%. It went up based on the fact that we have additional expenditures on ours, and we have a contingency fund.”

“The budget for income was $83,400 for the district’s actual income,” Maravilla explained. “She (former district clerk Terry Parsons) shows that the actual is $111,422 for expenses. The expenses for the year were budgeted at maybe $3,400. The information provided to the central registry states that the total expenditures were $92,691.”

Maravilla continued that a large maintenance expenditure of $24,132 was never put in the actuals, meaning the total amount spent in the 2020-2021 budget was $116,823, not $92,691.

In response,

Parsons stated that this was a capital expenditure, which is defined as funds used by a company to acquire, upgrade, and maintain physical assets such as property, plants, buildings, technology, or equipment.

“$15,020 was paid to the specialty pump in June 2021 and $9,041.80 was paid to Water Recovery Systems in July 2021 for a total of $24,061.80,” Parsons said. “This was not a repair, it was for an improvement to the system. Therefore, it was recorded as an asset in 2021 and should be expensed the following years as depreciation over its useful life. In other words, because this was done in 2021 at the end of this fiscal year 2022, the depreciation schedule should begin, and the portion depreciated will be debited as an expense and credited to the asset depreciation in the balance sheet. It is likely, this will be over a six-year period.”

This was brought to the board’s attention, and the Idaho Central Registry is currently looking into the matter.

It’s also important to note that since January 2022, many board members of the CWD began to resign, with two resigning in January, and three in June, eventually leaving Ed Hanson as the lone board member – Hanson was bound to stay on the board by law.

During this time, the previous clerk, Terry Parsons, also left and was replaced by Robin Hei and Karen Maravilla.

The board is currently full, with Waldo, Eaton, House, Hanson, and Peterson serving as current board members.

During the most recent board meeting, a customer was so frustrated with how the meeting was going they left with a petition to remove the current board.

The clerks are looking to schedule office hours to help with confusion over bill paying.

Maravilla and Hei welcome community members with concerns and questions to make an appointment to discuss the budget line item by line item.

If you are having trouble paying your water bill, the Low Income Household Water Assistance Program from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare helps families in Idaho pay their water and wastewater bills. Visit https://healthandwelfare.idaho.gov for more information.