FVWD water production continues good
At their Nov. 20 meeting, the Fern Valley Water District Board of Directors agreed to wait until their December meeting to decide where to deposit the funds from an expiring Certificate of Deposit.
About 18 months ago, the District deposited $243,000 in a money market CD which has earned them about 5.15% interest. The CD matures later this month.
To identify the best investment for the funds, the Board wanted to wait a month to know where the State’s Local Agency Investment Fund interest rates will be.
Usually LAIF lags the private sector, if the private interest rates begin to fall quicker, the board is likely to move the money into LAIF. Board Vice President Kevin Scott reminded his colleagues that when they made the investment in the money market CD, LAIF interest rates trailed the market; but in the past few months, LAIF’s rates are equal or better.
During the discussion, Director Mike LaFata asked about the need to access the funds quickly. General manager Victor Jimenez replied that there needs to be flexibility in case of an unexpected emergency.
Both Board President Jon Brown and Jimenez added that the normal procedure is to have accessible funds correlated with capital projects. As work is being completed, they can make interim payments and have sufficient funds for the completion of the project.
For the most recent billing period (September and October), Jessica Priefer, Assistant General Manager, reported that water consumption was up compared to the 2023 period and consequently water sales revenue was 8.9% greater in the 2024 period.
During these two months, the 2024 production was 7.1 million gallons compared to 6.9 million gallons during the 2023 early fall. For the 10 months from January through October 2024, the water production was 30.7 million gallons, or 2.9% less than the same period in 2023. Groundwater production was down from last year since the creeks are still running well, according to Jimenez.
“Storage and [well] water levels look good,” noted Brown.
In other action, the Board unanimously approved an end-of-year bonus of $500 for each employee. The bonus has been at this level since 2022.
