December 11, 2012
The Civic Federation supports the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District’s proposed budget of $1.1 billion which continues a comprehensive effort to control rising personnel costs. The budget holds the tax-capped portion of the District’s property tax levy flat and reflects recent efforts by the District to address underfunding of its pension and healthcare costs.
While praising the overall direction of the budget, the Federation is concerned with the District’s practice of budgeting well in excess of anticipated expenditures for its Reserve Claim Fund. The Federation also recommends that the District improve its budget documents by providing greater detail on total revenue collection and staffing levels as well as a full narrative description of changes made between the District’s two publicly released budget documents: the Executive Director’s Recommendation and the Tentative Budget.