The Turlock Irrigation District Board of Directors continued their work on the district's 2014 budget Tuesday, delving into proposed budgets for the Water Resources and Power Supply administrations.
The Water Resources Administration's operations and maintenance budget would rise 3.6 percent in the proposed budget, from $16.2 million to $16.8 million. Most of the cost increases can be tabbed to increasing pension and medical costs, as well as an anticipated three percent district-wide salary increase.
The Water Resources Administration also has $13.7 million budgeted for capital projects, the centerpiece of which is a planned $2.47 million purchase of the former Turlock Police Station, War Memorial and Brandon Koch Memorial Skate Park. TID plans to turn the polcice building into an “Operations Complex” for the Water Resources Administration. The administration would also spend $1 million to draft an integrated water resources plan, $5.9 million on state-mandated irrigation flow management tools, and $2.5 million on improvements to TID canals.
The Power Supply Administration's operations and maintenance budget, excluding debt service related to two district power plants, would increase 0.8 percent from $49.2 million to $49.6 million. Again, the increase is pegged to rising pension, medical, and salary costs.
The Power Supply Administration proposes a $14.2 million capital budget, focused on power generation activities. The district would spend $5.5 million on natural gas fields, more than $3 million on repairs at the Walnut Energy Center generation facility, and $4 million to upgrade Don Pedro Dam and its generators.
Directors also reviewed the Power Supply Adjustment rate on Tuesday, which is set to continue offering a half-cent credit per kilowatt-hour on customers' bills.
