12.28.01 Board approves 2002 budget The Metropolitan Utilities District Board approved a $285.4 million budget for 2002, following a public hearing December 28. The budget does not include a gas or water rate increase. However, the budget does include a $1 monthly natural gas service charge increase for customer service improvements. The service charge for residential gas customers will increase from $6 to $7 a month. The service charge for commercial and large volume gas customers will increase from $11 to $12 a month. The change is effective January 2, 2002. The last time there was a revenue increasing change was in 1992. The service charge increase will go for replacement of the District's customer service information system which was installed in 1968. The cost to replace the system for 2002 and 2003 is estimated at $7.4 million. The new system will improve productivity and efficiency with enhancements such as real-time updates of customer records, one bill for multiple accounts, and make it easier to eventually provide customer access to view accounts and pay bills via the Internet. Even with the $1 increase in the monthly service charge, we anticipate the average residential gas customer will use 1,089 therms of natural gas in 2002 at a cost of $668 compared to $785 for 1,023 therms of gas in 2001 -- a decrease of $117 or 15 percent. Next year's proposed $285.4 million budget is 9.4 percent lower than the 2001 estimated budget of $314.9 million. The main item bringing the budget down is a $26.7 million decrease in the price of gas from suppliers. The District expects to spend 20 percent less for gas on the resale market in 2002. The price of gas from suppliers is passed directly to the customer. The District also expects to put less money in the construction fund to support financing for the Platte West water treatment facility at 216 & Q Sts. At the end of 2001, it's estimated there will be $119 million in the fund. The cost of the facility is estimated at $295 million. The annual cost of water for the average residential customer, who uses 110,000 gallons of water per year, remains at $162.09. The Platte West facility would add 100 million gallons a day to M.U.D.'s water treatment capacity, which is 234 million gallons a day. The plant is scheduled to go online in 2007, if the District receives the permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 2002. A customer-owned utility, M.U.D. serves more than 175,000 water and 186,000 natural gas customers in the metro Omaha area.

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