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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTransmital letter to Mayor Carlos Alvarez and Miami Dade County Commissioners CITY OF MIAMI BEACH CITY HALL 1700 CONVENTION CENTER DRIVE MIAMI BEACH FLORIDA 33139 OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER TELEPHONE: (305) 673-7010 FAX: (305) 673-n82 September 22,2005 Honorable Carlos A. Alvarez, Mayor Honorable Commission Chairman Joe A. Martinez Board of County Commissioners Stephen P. Clark Center 111 NW 1st Street 29th Floor Miami, Florida 33128 Dear Mayor Alvarez, Chairman Martinez. and County Commissioners: I am attaching a resolution adopted by the City of Miami Beach Commission on September 8, 2005 opposinQ the Miami Dade County proposed increase in water and wastewater treatment rates. At a City Commission Meeting last night, the City of Miami Beach Commission again rejected to amend the City ordinance increasing the retail water and sewer rates for residents of the City of Miami Beach in response to the proposed Miami Dade County increases. The following concerns were presented by the Administration as part of this item: o WASD's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) for the Fiscal Year ending 9/30/O4 shows a $1.5 billion revenue bond balance in addition to a balance of $145 million balance from State revolving loans. W ASD was not able to provide an accounting of how much of these funds had been appropriated or encumbered to date. Why not use the above available fund balances first, before increasing rates? ( 0 The County approved G.O. Bond Program authorized $222 million to Countywide water and sewer projects of which only $32 million was allocated to W ASD for system wide improvements. It appears that the bulk of the allocation is for projects of local interest. City of Miami Beach payers are being asked to pay both for debt service to the G.O. Bond for local projects ad also through rate increase for system capital renewal and replacement. o WASD is providing a $23 million equity transfer to the County. If this equity transfer was deleted or decreased, additional funds could be made available to mitigate the impact of proposed increased water and sewer rates. Eliminating the $23 million transfer would reduce the additional revenue requirements by almost 40 percent. o WASD's renewal and replacement assessment report only evaluated '. one water plant and one sewer treatment plant out of the six major plants owned and operated by the County. WASD's consultant extrapolated their findings to the other four major plants to arrive at dollar amount recommendations for projected renewal and replacement requirements. The City Administration does not endorse the assumptions made by the consultants that the other four major plants would be in the same condition as the two inspected plants since the other plants were most likely built in different years and are located in different parts of the County. o W ASD projects a balance at the end of FY 2004/05 of approximately $34 million in the Renewal and Replacement Fund. W ASD was not able to provide an accounting of how much of these funds had been appropriated or encumbered to date, resulting in the same concern that the additional $65 million to renewal and replacement may be unspent in FY 2005/06. o In addition, the County Department of Environmental Resource Management (DERM), gets a windfall revenue from the City of Miami Beach without any justification simply because the City per County code is required to pay DERM a 7.5 percent fee of all water and sewer revenues collected I hope you will take into consideration the City of Miami Beach concerns regarding the water and wastewater treatment increases at your Board of County Commissioners Meeting today. ~.- c: Mayor David Dermer Vice Mayor/Commissioner Matti Herrera Bower Commissioner Simon Cruz Commissioner Luis R. Garcia, Jr. Commissioner Saul Gross Commissioner Jose Smith Commissioner Richard Steinberg RESOLUTION NO. 2005-25992 A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, URGING THE MIAMI-DADE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS NOT TO APPROVE THE PROPOSED WATER AND WASTEWATER TREATMENT RATES INCREASE. WHEREAS, on September Sth, 2005, the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners approved, on first reading, a proposal for water and wastewater treatment rates adjustment for the County Fiscal Year 2005/2006, which will have a significant impact on the water and wastewater treatment rates charged by the City to its residents, and wastewater treatment rates charged to surrounding communities served by Miami Beach; and WHEREAS, the City received notice of this proposal on August 23, 2005, and additional supplemental information on September 1, 2005, and the City has had insufficient time to fully evaluate the proposed rates increase; and WHEREAS, however, a preliminary assessment indicates that the proposed rate increases are not supported by a complete detailed needs assessment for the renewal and replacement requirements of the major elements of entire water and wastewater treatment infrastructure, thereby undercutting the ability of affected large wholesale customers to review and support the justification for the significant rates increase that have been proposed; and WHEREAS, the City considers the proposed rate change increase of forty (40) percent, for wholesale water, and sixteen and a half (1S.5) percent, for wastewater treatment, to be excessive; and WHEREAS, the Building Better Communities General Obligation Bond Program provides capital dollars to improve infrastructure in underdeveloped areas within the County, not maintaining the current infrastructure; and WHEREAS, the water and wastewater infrastructure expansions should be paid by the communities receiving the benefit and not be paid by all rate payers, to include the Miami Beach residents; and WHEREAS, the General Obligation Bonds should be used to fund existing water and wastewater renewal and replacement needs more broadly benefiting the County. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT DULY RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, that the Mayor and City Commission urge the Miami-Dade Board of Coun missioners not to approve the proposed water and wastewater rates increase. .2005 PASSED"ar:p ADOPTED this . ,.. , .' ' '.., " : ATT..EST:' .... i~'Ff.~~ . CITY CLERK APPROVED AS TO FORM &. LANGUAGE &. FOR EXECUTION 1r~~ '!-z.'~ Robert Parcher