Let's see if we can clear up these questions which are attached below. First off, if I am remembering right, Minneapolis sells about 1/4 of the water that it "makes" to other cities, those cities being Bloomington, Edina, Columbia Heights, Hilltop, Golden Valley, New Hope, and Crystal.
We are required by law to sell water at our cost of "making" it. The City of Minneapolis and its associated customers get their water from the Mississippi. St Paul gets its water from the river and from a series of lakes that it owns in the northern part of the region. Almost everyone else in the region gets their water from underground wells. If Minneapolis and its customers started getting its water from wells instead of the river, it would have a negative impact on the rest of the region's ability to draw water from underground aquifers. When I asked that question, the answer was something along the lines of "we would suck the aquifers dry" (pardon my extremely untechnical response - this was a while ago). The City is not making a $100 million profit from its water or sewer charges. The link to this part of the budget is below for anyone who wants to look: http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/citywork/city-coordinator/finance/services-b udget/docs/budgetbook2003/Section5.pdf#page=14 We are projected to have cash balances at then end of 2003 of about $4 M in the Water Fund and about $27 M in the Sewer Fund. I believe that Ms Heller is picking up some changes in fixes assets and assuming that this is having a budget impact. A better question is why is there such a large cash balance in the Sewer Fund. That answer would take someone who knows the current situation with those funds. Carol Becker Longfellow > > Mark Snyder asks: > > > > "What if we stopped providing the services that we're being > > punished for providing? What if we stopped selling water to > > our suburban neighbors, for example?" > > > > Vicky comments: > > > > As nearly as I can tell from the Truth In Taxation 2203 > > budget forecast, Minneapolis expects to make a PROFIT of > > almost $100 million from water/sewer charges. > > > > Projected Revenue: $329,400,000 From Selling Services > > Projected Expenditure: $231,800,000 Public Works > > > [TB] How much of that $329 million comes from selling water outside the > city? Do we sell to those cities at discounted rates? > > > Terrell Brown > Loring Park > terrell at terrellbrown dot org TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
