Needles board reviews utility "due to/due from" balances, staff says timing will smooth by fiscal year end

Terry, a city staff member presenting to the Board of Public Utilities, told the board on May 5 that historical accounting between the City of Needles and the Needles Public Utility Authority (NPUA) created longstanding "due to / due from" balances and that recent months'longer power purchases and timing differences explain current short-term imbalances.

Terry said the management agreement between the city and the authority reimburses the city for labor and operating costs and that all payroll and equipment payments flow from a pooled cash account, with monthly transfers meant to allocate those costs to the appropriate funds. "The monthly transfers are not numbers that are just thrown out into the air. They are methodically calculated by the total operating budget that you all approve divided by 12 months," Terry said.

In the packet presented to the board, staff reported that "water owes a balance of 456,000 to the city," and that wastewater and electric showed amounts listed as "252" and "5.2" respectively; the presenter and other staff members said the transcript excerpts in the packet do not specify units for the latter two figures. Mr. Martinez, a city staff member involved with budgets, said the discussion was timely: the city is preparing its budgets and the new staff will work to ensure monthly transfers occur to reduce swings tied to seasonal power purchases.

Board members acknowledged the accounting had been "a mess" historically and commended staff for progress in reducing multi-million-dollar imbalances previously present. Staff explained a separate revenue stream tied to the All-American Canal and the Lower Colorado water supply project is billed to well users and is tracked separately; because the Bureau of Reclamation's final management charge came in lower than conservatively budgeted, it created a temporary credit that will be handled by reducing future transfers so the net position becomes zero by the end of the fiscal year.

The board did not take further formal action on the item beyond asking staff to continue monthly reconciliations and to work with the finance director to avoid carryover variances. The board moved on to subsequent agenda items after questions and discussion.