This the third in a series of articles about the Brady City Budget. The $20 million budget is broken down into three funds for accounting purposes. The Utility Fund is by far the largest (about $13 million) and accounts for about 64% of the total budget. As noted in the article on the General Fund, money is transferred out of the Utility Fund to provide about two-thirds of the revenue for General Fund expenditures.
Nine City Departments operate out of the Utility Fund. Here is a summary (rounded to the nearest thousand dollars) of the net revenue generated by each:
- Power Plant: -$6,000
- Electric Distribution: +$2,817,000
- Sewer Department: +$172,000
- Water Department: +$710,000
- Gas Department: +$579,000
- Meter Shop: -$104,000
- Billing & Collection: -$144,000
- Utility Support: +$248,000
- Solid Waste Department: +$104,000
Here are some random and incomplete notes on items within each department budget:
- The Power Plant expenditure is the cost of decommissioning the old City of Brady Power Plant that once stood on the bank of Brady Creek at the west end of 1st Street.
- The Electric Distribution department will borrow $235,000 and make principle payments of $187,000 on previous borrowing.
- Power purchased by the Electric Distribution department cost $4,093,000
- The Electric Distribution Department will transfer out $2,817,000 to other city departments
- All of the net revenue from the Sewer Department ($172,000) is transferred to other city departments
- The Water Department will transfer out $367,000 to other city departments and pay $343,000 in previous debt principle
- The Utility Support Department requires a transfer in of $160,000 from other city departments to show a net revenue of $248,000. Their function is described on page 106 of the PDF document or on page BB of the printed budget.
- The Solid Waste Department transfers out $59,000 to other city departments.