FAIRMONT — The currently troubled state of the city’s deficient water fund has not only created a dismal financial situation as Fairmont council members stare down the barrel at a significant upcoming customer rate increase, but it is also affecting other local services.
City Manager Jim Snider said that a $250,000 city paving project was scrubbed this summer because of money borrowed from the general fund to help the city pay its water bills.
Snider said that while there will still be some streets paved because they are in conjunction with other projects going on within the city, there will be no other paving done until at least next spring.
“We delayed the paving project for this calendar year,” Snider said. “We will try to address it in early spring during this current fiscal year.”
Currently, the city’s water fund is running on an about $400,000 deficit caused by two costly system emergencies during the winter of 2007. But it does not stop there.
Officials said that the city also had to supplement the water fund to pay its bills with $1.2 million from the general fund and $238,000 from the sewer fund over the past year and a half.
And as if that weren’t enough, Snider said that about $400,000 worth of bills within the water fund are past due, and the next bond payment on the $40 million system is due in January.
“We may end up having to transfer some additional monies,” Snider said, explaining that until a rate increase is introduced or the city finds another way to fund its debt, there is no money to pay these bills off.
City finance director Eileen Layman said some cash-flow problems with the water fund can be accounted for from expenses of about $400,000 from the two water crises, including overtime, legal fees and engineering costs. There have also been some short-term improvement projects and upgrades to the storage tanks to prevent future water shortage emergencies.
But in addition to water emergencies, Layman said there are cost-runs for operation and maintenance in the fund, particularly in the transmission and delivery line item.
“That’s your pipes, valves and fittings, and we’ve had some extraordinary overtime costs,” she said.
And although both the general and sewer funds are working with positive cash flows, the money taken from them has put a strain on other funding abilities, Snider said.
“The crisis we have financially is the water fund situation,” Snider said. “The general fund is in a positive cash flow, but we had to borrow money from the general fund, and it limited our ability to fund projects that normally there would be money for.”
“You have to understand the dynamics of the water fund,” Snider also said. “It’s a $3 million operating fund; that’s all it is. And you’re having hundreds of thousands of dollars in non-budgeted expenses. That’s why it’s such a difficult cash-flow problem.”
In addition to the paving project, Snider said the city is also being stringent on hiring new employees and is performing a few other cost-cutting initiatives to try to save some money.
“We haven’t officially designated a hiring freeze. It’s just the administration is not looking to hire anyone right now,” he said. “We are looking at a few things to basically cut back on our spending as much as we can.”
E-mail Mallory Panuska at mpanuska@timeswv.com.
E-mail Misty Poe at mpoe@timeswv.com.
Local News
Troubles with water fund affect other services
- Local News
-
-
Teaching on their level
“I would like to nominate Lois Thibodeau for ‘My Favorite Teacher.’ She is the special needs Pre-K teacher at Watson Elementary School.” This was Kristi Wolford singing the praises of Lois Thibodeau.
-
DHHR requiring additional vaccines for students
Seventh- and 12th-graders who return to class in the fall without certain immunizations will not be allowed to attend school unless they get the required inoculations.
-
Cost of crime
Victim.
You never thought this would be you.
But you are the victim of a nonviolent or violent crime.
After contacting the proper authorities, you may be bewildered as to what happens next. -
More streets to be paved this week
Even more city streets will be paved this week than expected.
City Manager Jay Rogers said the spring paving required fewer tons of asphalt to cover the distance than originally estimated. That means there’s asphalt to spare and more streets are getting paved this spring. -
Bertoletti has 33 pepperoni rolls in only 10 minutes to win
If there’s one Memorial Day tradition that everybody participates in, one way or another, it’s eating.
Maybe it’s at a picnic at one of the many venues scattered across Marion County, enjoying hamburgers, hot dogs, macaroni salad and other seasonal food. -
Assaults, physical or not, affect ‘sense of safety and trust’
An assault of any kind — whether it’s physical or not — can be traumatizing.
“You don’t need to have suffered any cuts or scratches,” said Dr. Ronald Pearse, “but any kind of assault affects your sense of safety and trust.” -
Reasoning Mind excites students
As a teacher, Beverly Stewart has never been more thrilled than when she sees the benefits a newer program has done for her students.
Pleasant Valley Elementary fifth-grade student Calista Muzzapelle worked diligently on her assignments last week, much like she had during her Christmas break. -
Pepperoni roll prize
To someone from out of state, the pepperoni roll might seem like a mystery.
“Is it like a calzone?” they might ask, “or a stromboli?”
Unique to the state of West Virginia, the pepperoni roll represents the Italian heritage of many of the miners in the early 20th century mixed with hardworking Mountaineer common sense. -
BOE seeks land for new middle schools
The Marion County Board of Education is looking at land to build new middle schools in Mannington and Monongah.
If all goes as planned, county voters will see a bond on the November ballot. -
Former WVU coach takes final journey home
Bill Stewart has made his way back home.
The former West Virginia University football coach, who died suddenly earlier this week of a heart attack at 59, was laid to rest Friday in his hometown of New Martinsville. - More Local News Headlines
-
