by MATT HUGHES
J-E News Editor
CPA Mike Overby met with the Webster County Water District board on Thursday to go over their yearly audit.
“Everything seemed to be in order as it always has been in the past,” Overby told board members.
He reported that the district had total assets of $14,710,909 with a total liability of $13,482,561, giving them a yearly net position (formerly called net assets) of $13,482,561.
Overby also reported that the district has a total current debt of $1,160,156. Of that, a minimum of $135,000 is expected to be paid off before the end of the current year.
“You have steadily been decreasing your debt,” Overby said. “It will not be long until you are totally out of debt.”
Approval of the audit was tabled until next month to allows board members to review Overby’s findings.
In other business, April was the first month that the district did not our produce it’s numbers from last year. The water plant came up 193,725 gallons lower than it’s April 2013 numbers. But that is not necessarily a bad thing.
“Our sales and pumping were really close together,” said assistant water plant superintendent Robert Schindley. In April the district pumped 27 million gallons and sold 30 million gallons.
Plans were discussed to look further into doing a proposed cost of service study later in the year. In preparation, district officials have been doing their own study, and working to cut back on the cost of doing business.
Over the first three months of the year the cost of producing water has been cut from $2.149 per 1,000 gallons to $1.72 per 1,000 gallons. That makes for a savings of just under $20,000 per month.
Superintendent Paul Lashbrook said that part of the savings was simply due to cost of heating district facilities during the winter months, but the water plant has also been experimenting with different chemical mixtures.