December 08, 2010
The Civic Federation supports the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District’s FY2011 Tentative Budget of nearly $1.0 billion. The tentative budget is a $681.1 million, or 41.1% decrease over final adjusted FY2010 appropriations. This decline is largely due to decreases in appropriations for the Construction Fund and Capital Improvements Bond Fund. The District plans to reduce Corporate Fund spending by $14.2 million or 4.0% from FY2010 appropriations and raise the property tax levy for tax capped funds by the maximum allowable rate of 2.7%. The District plans to reduce its staffing level of 2,116 positions to 2,097 positions.
However, the Civic Federation has concerns about the MWRD’s FY2011 proposed budget because the District’s pension fund shows signs of declining fiscal health including increasing unfunded liabilities and a declining funded ratio.