From:
To: Torran Korman
Cc: Jill McLewis; Neysa Hinton; Phill Carter; Stephen Zollman; Sandra Maurer; City Council Subject: EFOC Meetings and Protocols
Date: Monday, October 5, 2026 3:47:51 PM
Attachments: 2012 Rate Study.pdf
2019 Rate Study.pdf
EFOC Staff, EFOC Members and Council,
I would like to propose a regular meeting time for the EFOC so we can follow up on issues.
All other committees have regular meeting times. I would suggest Mondays or Tuesdays as that is when Council Member Carter is available.
I would also like to propose that 3 meetings per year are with the Council at scheduled Council meeting times to follow up on 1) Water Quality, 2) Finances 3) Maintenance and 4) Capital Improvements and that the City strive to run the Enterprise Funds like a utility.
Attached are sample agenda from Sweetwater Springs. They meet monthly. My proposal would be for Sebastopol to have similar agendas for information purposes.
In addition, the Enterprise Funds should have separate budget meetings with the Council and EFOC. The Enterprise Funds are separate from the General Fund budget and should have separate budget and CIP meetings. Once again, to recognize they are distinct from the General Fund and are motivated by a distinct set of concerns and funding sources.
It became clear in the. meeting today that the City has been raising water and sewer rates for infrastructure with no plan to fix the infrastructure. They should have been raising rates with specific projects and budgets. Attached are documents from former rate studies which indicated rates are being raised for infrastructure.
At this point, many critica EFOC recommendations have not been implemented. In today's meeting, Ana said that they are using time tracking for a Cost Allocation RFP but we have no idea what type of time tracking is being employed. In August, Council voted to reimburse the Enterprise Funds for misappropriated attorney's fees but there is no documentation that this has been done. The City was supposed to address the City Manager Allocation expense for the period of vacancy. When will this be done? The EFOC has recommended ways to reduce administrative burden to the Enterprise Funds such as customer service/administrative function time slot between 8AM and Noon - Monday - Thursday and payment lock box in City Hall. What has happened to this? Has it been tried? We have discussed passing on credit card charges so Ratepayers are not subsidizing other people who pay by credit card. Has this been approved? The EFOC has recommended the City take over the payments for the Syserco Loan due to the fact that it was done with zero due diligence and is a breach of fiduciary duty.
When will this come to the agenda?
We need to move forward with these items to help reduce the Enterprise Funds expenses.
Funding for critical infrastructure is in limbo and there are many unanswered questions regarding the City's intention to pay restitution to the Enterprise Funds.
We're looking at a huge loan expense to Ratepayers due to the City's past incompetence and illegal misappropriation of funds, which allowed Well #4 to age 30 years past its useful life. It will be at least 3 years before it can be replaced due to financing and construction limitations.
The City needs to focus on these issues and move forward.
Best,
Kate Haug