V.I. Water and Power Authority board members sat down Thursday to approve their Fiscal Year 2014 budgets for the water and electric systems – months in advance.
WAPA Executive Director Hugo Hodge Jr. said he was submitting the budget proposal to the board early so board members could have a better idea, early on, of what the upcoming fiscal year’s expenses and revenues.
According to the paperwork, FY14 operating revenues for the electric system total $343,316,778. Total operating expenses add up to $343,315,719.
Budgeted in the total operating expenses category are $35.9 million for personnel and $243.1 million for fuel, among other things. Other expenses total $14,672,971, leaving WAPA in the end with a total net income of $1,059.
The electric system’s capital budget is $40.2 million for FY14.
On the water system side, total operating revenues are $41,159,079, while total operating expenses are $36,657,896. According to the paperwork, the “other expenses” category adds up to $868,421 but that is offset by another $7,652,154 in capital grants (federal funds and local money WAPA receives for capital projects), which leaves the authority with $11.2 million in net income.
Authority officials said Thursday that the higher net income figure is born out of WAPA’s switch from an old IDE system to a new reverse osmosis technology and the savings realized as a result will be passed on to the consumer.
WAPA has also proposed an $18,579,416 capital budget for the water system.
WAPA’s fiscal year begins on July 1 and runs until June 30, 2014.
While it did not come up during the meeting, a WAPA press release said Thursday that the government’s outstanding receivables, as of April 30, total approximately $20.7 million, which is $6.4 million more than the balance owed at the same time last year. The agencies with the largest balances are the Gov. Juan F. Luis Hospital ($6.3 million), Schneider Regional Medical Center ($2.2 million), the Department of Human Services ($1.2 million) and $7 million from the Department of Finance for streetlights.
The Bureau of Corrections, JFL Hospital and the Department of Human Services also have the highest outstanding water balances. Outstanding government receivables on the water side totals $3.3 million, according to the release.
In other action, WAPA board members approved a three-year contract with Rockwell Automation for the installation, certification, and around-the-clock maintenance and repair of an environmental reporting system for air emissions at WAPA’s two power plants.
Hodge explained during the meeting that the system would at least reduce, if not eliminate, past violations of WAPA’s air permits, which require that any monitoring equipment be operational at almost all times during operational hours. Hodge said the project would help to address several long-standing compliance issues and explained that Rockwell would also be training the authority’s personnel on how to maintain the system over time.
The cost of the project totals $2.2 million over the three years.
The board also approved a $131,012 change order request from J. Benton Construction for work on the Christiansted Underground Phase II project. The design of the project had to be changed because of delays caused by public events in the downtown area, along with damage caused to unknown and unmarked utilities during construction.
Two other change orders for J. Benton Construction, which increases the contract amount by $71,972, were also approved. The change orders cover the installation of 800 linear feet of waterline in downtown Christiansted, which will be used as a part of WAPA’s ongoing electric underground project.
The board also approved a contract with FTI Consulting, at a cost not to exceed $732,500, which will allow for the launch of a public education and media campaign to get the community more aware of WAPA’s upcoming switch from fuel oil to liquefied petroleum gas. The project developer will cover half of the cost.
The agreement will be in effect for one year, beginning June 1.
