Page 276 - Fort Worth City Budget 2019
P. 276
Enterprise Funds
The adopted budget increases by $91k and 1 AP and 1 FTE providing a graduate engineer, who will assist with
capital project delivery to meet present and future customer demands.
The adopted budget increases by $63k and 1 AP and 1 FTE to provide for a senior account technician for the Water
Development section to serve the development community.
The adopted budget increases by $49k and 3 APs and 3 FTEs to provide for Call Center operational enhancements
that will provide support to Call Center supervisors. The cost of adding these three positions will be offset by
savings gained with modification of the Water Call Center hours of operation from 24x7 to Monday-Friday 7AM
to 7PM.
The adopted budget decreases by ($3.44M) for a reduction in the purchase of capital vehicles and equipment due
to a backlog in vehicle and equipment purchases budgeted in prior years.
The adopted budget increases by $3.43M in Other Contractual Services to rebuild a gas turbine at the Village Creek
Water Reclamation Facility, provide additional emergency response services to main breaks, and for additional
sewer treatment costs provided by a third party vendor.
The adopted budget decreases by ($2.7M) in required debt service payments.
The adopted budget increases by $1.88M for increases in vehicle, equipment and facility repair and maintenance
to address the needs of an aging fleet and facilities.
The adopted budget increases by $1.63M in pay-go cash to support the City Council-adopted Capital Improvement
Plan and to improve debt service coverage ratios.
The adopted budget increases by $1.56M for an additional 3% contribution to retirement to address pension
needs.
The adopted budget includes an adjustment to the FY2018 FTE counts. The counts decrease by 0.125 FTE due to
rounding errors. There is no financial impact to the fund from this change.
HORIZON ISSUES
Biosolids Program: The Utility has been under contract for biosolids processing and beneficial re-use since 1994
and the existing contract expires in 2020. The Utility is in the early stages of procuring a new contract, which may
include more than $80 million in capital expenditures. The existing biosolids contract also includes management
and delivery of landfill gas and operation and maintenance of the gas turbines. As part of this project, Utility staff
will be evaluating whether to incorporate these functions into new contracts or transfer them to Utility staff.
Wastewater Certificate of Convenience and Necessity (CCN) Application: A CCN is granted through the Public
Utility Commission and enables the Utility to be the exclusive service provider for the CCN’s designated geographic
area. The CCN requires developers to build to the Utility’s minimum standards, thereby ensuring the infrastructure
already meets the Utility’s standards once it becomes part of the Fort Worth system. The Utility currently has a
Water CCN and is in the process of applying for a Wastewater CCN. Submitting the Wastewater CCN application
will result in substantial public engagement and will trigger additional discussions regarding regionalization.
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