Amador County – Sutter Creek City Council on Monday heard it is getting mostly in the black in finances, including about $250,000 in the city sewer fund.

City Finance Director Joe Aguilar said the sewer fund went to a positive cash position of $80,000 in July, and he recommended the council approve a resolution to appropriate sewer funds. He said “the sewer fund improved by $400,000 during last fiscal year and it is no longer in need of cash flow loans for its operations.”

He said “even with the increased spending on sewer collection functions and reimbursement to the Wastewater Capital Replacement Fund, the sewer operating fund is still expected to build up an additional $100,000 in working capital after funding its share of the Sewer Master Plan.”

The council approved a resolution amending the city budget for 2011-2012 to appropriate $110,000 for the “preparation of the Sewer Master Plan.” He said the line item “budgets the entire amount of the contract” and the reimbursement from the Amador Regional Sanitation Authority and “outside agencies will flow back to the sewer fund upon completion of the document.”

City Manager Sean Rabe said the city needs to set aside the full amount of the contract, although “we’ll see the funds return on our revenue side.” Aguilar said costs of the Sewer Master Plan “should be split up over the next 7-10 years in the base charge,” and the city should pass on the costs to Amador Water Agency and Amador City.

In public comment, Mimi Arata said she was “totally amazed” that even without the city getting money it is owed by the AWA, it was still able to get rid of its $750,000 sewer fund deficit. Rabe said the budget still has a negative balance in the Wastewater Capital Replacement Fund.

Arata said “it bothers me that we have lots of money and we still have to spend it how we always do.” She also thought the city was charging too much for sewer.

Aguilar said the proposed cost split for the Sewer Master Plan was 50 percent to the city and 50 percent to ARSA. The city bears 83 percent of costs incurred by ARSA with outside agencies incurring the remaining 17 percent.

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