SSJID Now Debt Free After Paying Off $ 11 Million In Unfunded Retirement Costs

The Southern San Joaquin Irrigation District is a rarity among California government agencies.

He is no longer in debt after the board of directors approved full payment of the district’s $ 11 million unfunded pension liability. The district currently has no outstanding bonds.

“The Board of Directors has made the decision to ensure the continued reliability of its operations,” said Robert Holmes, Chairman of the Board of Directors of SSJID. “Our cash position and strong financial reserves allow the district to cope with (drought-related) fluctuations from year to year.”

On November 23, the SSJID Board of Directors adopted its 2022 budget comprising $ 37.7 million for operating expenses and $ 7.3 million for capital expenses.

The budget was underscored by an expectation of continued drought and inflationary cost increases, resulting in a projected deficit of about $ 5.8 million.

Pending a continued drought, revenues from SSJID’s Tri-Dam project are expected to be $ 8 million, which is about $ 2 million lower than the historical average and $ 7.8 million lower than the year. 2020. The Tri-Dam Project is a series of reservoirs and hydroelectric projects owned and operated in partnership with the Oakdale Irrigation District.

The district expects to dip into its financial reserves in 2022 to continue investing in long-term investment projects like the Canyon Tunnel, implementing new concrete pipe coating technology that is expected to achieve significant long-term savings and continue efforts to provide reliable, affordable and responsible retail electrical service. The district has also postponed several investment projects and expects to leave at least two vacant positions vacant to reduce spending in 2022.

“The preparation of the 2022 budget has been extremely difficult in the face of the double whammy of reduced revenue expectations and inflationary cost increases,” said Peter Rietkerk, Director General of SSJID. “The board clearly recognized the value of having a strong financial position and reserves to get through tough years, while also understanding that more work is needed to protect the overall economic position of the district in the long term. Years of declining income at Tri-Dam expose vulnerabilities in the district’s business model that must be addressed in order to ensure long-term financial and operational stability for our customers and communities.

The highlights of the budget are as follows:

* Due to the design of SSJID’s irrigation rates, the possibility of a dry year is estimated to have a relatively small effect of five percent on irrigation income, largely because irrigation fees are primarily in the form of a fixed annual fee per acre.

* The fact that irrigation income is very low compared to irrigation expenditure means that a decrease of five percent has a low financial impact.

* For the Nick DeGroot water treatment plant serving Manteca, Lathrop and Tracy, the district plans to build a backup generation to improve the reliability of treated water deliveries to these communities.

* The budget includes approximately $ 2.5 million of additional expenses, mainly related to the resumption of legal activity around the trial in the prominent area of ​​SSJID to acquire and operate the district of PG&E retail power assets. These expenditures are aimed at advancing SSJID’s project of serving our local communities with local, reliable and economical energy. Further increases are attributed to consulting costs for necessary improvements to the water treatment plant, solar farm, engineering and district strategic plan updates.

* SSJID is expected to create a new position next year, Associate Civil Engineer to help increase city growth and development activity affecting SSJID facilities and fill 6 of the 8 existing open positions. The additional increases in payroll are linked to an annual adjustment of 3% to the cost of living and a performance-based step increase for eligible employees. The district also expects lower payroll taxes and benefits due to lower spending on workers’ compensation and coronavirus-related leave programs that are not scheduled for 2022.

The SSJID was established in 1909 and is headquartered in Manteca, California. SSJID provides agricultural irrigation water to approximately 56,000 acres around Escalon, Ripon and Manteca, and wholesale potable water to over 193,000 residents of Manteca, Lathrop, Tracy and, in the future , Escalon.

SSJID, along with OID, owns and operates the Tri-Dam Project, a series of storage reservoirs and power generation facilities that produce zero carbon hydropower in the Stanislaus River watershed.