Amador County – The Amador Water Agency Board of Directors in late June approved a $10.4 million budget, and looks to finalize an agreement with employees this week.

The Board adopted a balanced agency-wide budget of $10.4 million for the 2011-2012 fiscal year, but General Manager Gene Mancebo warned that “projections show some individual systems running in the red, including the Lake Camanche water system.”

Mancebo said the budget “assumes no increase over last year’s dismal water sales. Another blow to revenues is the closing of Preston Youth Correctional facility, which will cost the Agency approximately $120,000 a year in water sales and indirect impacts of the closure.”

To make up for reductions in revenue, the AWA Board reorganized its staff to reduce by half the number of agency managers, a plan which Mancebo said “will save about $300,000 this fiscal year.” He said “another $400,000 in employee concessions is anticipated to help balance the budget. Staff cuts and concessions are targeted to reduce labor costs by $1.8 million this upcoming year as compared to 2008.”

Mancebo said he “credited AWA employees for ongoing belt-tightening and concessions in wages and benefits.” He said “due to the recession in Amador County, the bottom has dropped out of revenue coming in to the Agency. At the same time, Agency employees continue to provide safe, high quality water and wastewater service to thousands of customers over hundreds of square miles.” He said directors will review the budget monthly.

The agency meets at 9 a.m. today and the agenda includes an agreement with employees and new hires. The addendum to the “AWA Employees Association Memorandum of Understanding” (MOU) would save an estimated $385,000.

In the draft agreement, employees get a 2 percent “cost of living adjustment” for 2011-2012. Employee concessions include a furlough program, with 12 furlough days per employee. Furloughs as a “temporary cost-saving measure” in the agreement would require each represented employee to take up to 96 furlough hours of leave from work without pay between July 1 and June 30, 2012.

Also, effective July 1, the “Agency shall no longer contribute funds” to employee’s “Deferred Compensation Plans,” though the plans would continue on a voluntary basis. The Agency and the Association also “have agreed to eliminate the practice of paying out Compensatory Time Off and accrued vacations hours.”

The Agency’s concession in the agreement was “to change the advance written notice from 15 days to 30 days” in layoff noticing policy. New hires would be vested in 5 years, when benefits would adhere with negotiated benefits yet to settle in other MOUs.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.