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May 17, 1994Mr. John W. Abney, Sr., Chairman Okeechobee Utility Working Group Abney 61 Abney Construction, Inc. Post Office Drawer 700 Okeechobee, Florida 34973 Dear Mr. Abney: SMITH AND GILL[SPIE ENGINEERS, INC. Post orricc sox 03130 JACKDONVILLC, FLORIDA 32201 1004) 743.0050 May 17, 1994 Subject: Water and Sewer Rates Analysis S&G Project No, 9402- 001 -01 Okeechobee Utility Working Group HAROLD R. BRIDGES. Ph.D.. P.E. VICE PRESIDENT We have reviewed the comments presented by PMG Associates, Inc. in their letter dated April 19, 1994 on the subject Water and Sewer Rates Analysis. We offer the following responses: 1. Use of interest on Coun y gontribution to pay for debt service. In the rates analysis, only the interest earned on the cash contribution from the county was used to pay for debt service, The comment by PMG indicates this is acceptable under the City's bond covenants. PMG also states that the capital received from the County cannot be used to pay debt service. The capital from the County was not used to pay debt service in the rates analysis. We have not reviewed the bond covenants to confirm this restriction, however, should the formation of a utility authority involve refinancing of the City's outstanding bonds, this covenant should be reviewed and possibly modified or deleted. 2. Interest rate on invested funds. In response to the comments by PMG we asked the City Clerk and Treasurer of the City of Bradenton, Florida, to request proposals from various brokers that he routinely deals with, for $3.0 million in US Treasury Bonds maturing in 30 years. The proposals or offers received are attached and show that the 7.0% interest rate used in the rates analysis is not unrealistic. US Treasure Bonds paying 7.125% interest (the interest is paid semi- annually) and maturing in 30 years could have been purchased on May 11, 1994, for approximately 94% of face value. The bonds are backed by the full faith and credit of the US Treasury. Purchase of U S Treasury Bonds maturing in 30 years, for example, would not mean that the funds would be restricted for 30 years. The bonds are tradable. If interest rates increase, their value will decrease and, if interest rates decrease, their value will increase relative to their purchase price. Uzi: 1 5 a U E:I u 1 NE ERS kJW SMITH AND GILLESPIE ENGINEERS, INC. 3. /authority Start -up Costs. Mr. John W. Abney, Sr., Chairman Water and Sewer Rates Analysis S&0 Project No. 9402 001 -01 Okeechobee Utility Working Group May 17, 1994 Page 2 Neither the legal framework nor the management framework of the proposed authority have been defined. Both of these will have great impact on the required start -up cost of the authority. We agree that it would be appropriate to use a portion of the funds to be contributed by the County for this purpose, however, the amount of money to be donated by the County has also not been defined. Therefore, for purpose of the rates analysis, three scenarios of contribution by the County were considered. These scenarios may be viewed as: (1) County contribution is equal to the required start up cost; no money from County available for investment. (2) County contribution is $2 million greater than start -up cost. (3) County contribution is q3 million greater than start -up cost. 4. Required_upgga,¢Q of the OBWA System. The scope of the rates analysis did not include an engineering or physical analysis of either the OBWA water system or the City's water and wastewater system. Discussions with OBWA personnel have not revealed any problem areas requiring immediate attention. The original OBWA system was constructed in 1965, so the oldest water mains are now almost 30 years old. It is understood that the system has not been designed to provide fire flows in at least a part of the system and there are a number of small galvanized iron water lines in the system. It is very likely that upgrading and improvements are required for both the OBWA and City systems. A 3 -year capital improvements program should be developed based on the urgency or priority of any improvements which may be needed and the availability of funds to make those improvements. Whether or not rates would be increased to fund such improvements would depend on not only the cost but the urgency of the improvements. 5. Rates without OBWA. City of Okeechobee and OBWA billing records for Fiscal Year 1993 were used to determine the amount of existing revenues. The rates required to earn this amount were then calculated for the various system scenarios (existing system, OBWA separate from City, and combined systems). Obviously, the rates required to earn the amount of existing revenues with the existing system are identical to the existing rates. SMITH AND GILLESPIE ENGINEERS, INC. U=1/ l r'' 4 1.4:1b b i. U E1 AU 1 NEERS UU4 Mr. John W. Abney, Sr., Chairman Water and Sewer Rates Analysis S&G.Project No. 9402 001 -01 Okeechobee Utlity Working Group May 15, 1994 Page 3 The underlying premise of this analysis is that the existing rates and the resulting revenues were adequate, but not excessive, to meet the expenses and other financial obligations of the system during Fiscal Year 1993. What the analysis shows is that, if OBWA had been separate from the City system during Fiscal Year 1993; the City's rates would have had to be increased to earn the same amount of net revenues (gross revenues less operating expenses) as was earned during Fiscal Year 1993. Obviously, if rates were not increased, the net revenues would be less. 6. Debt Service Coverage The City's bond covenants require that, each fiscal year, the net system revenues (gross revenues less operating expenses) plus other pledged revenues must equal at least 125% of the bond debt service due that fiscal year. The additional 25% of bond debt service that is required to be available is not money that the City must pay out each year. Instead, the 125% debt service coverage may be considered as a factor of safety used to make the revenue bonds more attractive to prospective buyers. The "other pledged revenues" of the City are franchise fees, utility service taxes, and revenue sharing or guaranteed entitlement funds. If it is assumed that, under the legal framework of the proposed utility authority, these revenue sources would not be available to pledge to debt service, then other sources of revenue will be required. Sources available to the proposed authority would include the system revenues and the initial cash contribution from the County. If the proposed authority were to provide the debt service coverage solely from system revenues, higher rates than are shown in the Water and Sewer Rates Analysis for the combined system will be required. System capacity charges (Impact Fees) are pledgable for debt service on the expansion portion of the bonds. During the past five years (1987 1993), the impact fees collected by the City have averaged about $195,000 per year. Twenty -five percent (25 of the debt service requirements for Fiscal Year 1993 was $270,572. An alternative way to provide the required debt service coverage would be to put a portion of the contribution from the County into a rate stabilization fund dedicated for that purpose. Discussions with a Bond Underwriter indicates that two years of required coverage or approximately $650,000 would be adequate for this fund. This amount would be a part of the start -up cost of the proposed authority, HRB :mss 8nalosure ICJ 1.4:1r SMITH ANO GILLESPIE ENGINEERS, INC. d. b LI IU 1 NLbkb kJkJ Mr. John W, Abney, Sr., Chairman Water and Sewer Rates Analysis S&G Project No. 9402 001 -01 Okeechobee Utility Working Group May 15, 1994 Page 4 7. Como,arison of Rates._ The comparison of rates made by PMG is an absolute "worst case" scenario in which it is assumed that all of the money contributed by the County is required to start up the authority and that all of the debt service coverage will be provided solely from system revenues. There are still several "unknowns" that must be defined before it is possible to state exactly what the rates will be for a combined system. We believe that our Water and Sewer Rates Analysis presents an honest estimate of what the rates would be under the conditions presented. Please feel free to call on us if there are any further comments or questions. Sincerely, SMITH AND GILLESJIE ENGINEERS, INC. Harold R. Bridges, Ph.D.,