Utilities governance will highlight board meeting

Members of the City Council begin the debate next week about the possible establishment of a new type of governance model for Colorado Springs Utilities.

“We need to have a serious, citywide discussion on this,” Councilman Sean Paige said.

Currently, the nine members of the City Council, including Mayor Lionel Rivera, act as Utilities’ governing board. They provide guidance, make policy decisions, review budgets and approve rate hikes.

But the dual roles can become fraught with conflict, especially in tough economic times when both entities are scrambling for money, Paige said. As an example, he pointed to the heated discussions earlier this spring when the City Council sought help from Utilities to get city parks watered.

Utility officials said they couldn’t provide the city, which owns all the waterworks and the water rights, with free water because it would violate agreements Utilities has with bondholders and would be unfair to its other ratepayers. Rivera pointed out at the time that most ratepayers are taxpayers.

Councilwoman Jan Martin said that she also supports a new type of governance model in part because Utilities has become a billion-dollar operation that’s overseen by part-time city council members who make $6,250 annually.

“We’re spread pretty thin,” she said. “It’s my belief that Utilities deserves a board of its own that focuses just on utility issues.”

The municipally owned utility provides water, wastewater, natural gas and electricity to Colorado Springs residents.

Utilities has prepared a report on alternative forms of governance that will be presented Wednesday at the monthly meeting of the Utilities Board.

That report, which examines the structure of more than 25 entities that provide various utility services, shows that the majority have independent boards whose members are either elected by the public or appointed by elected officials.

One entity that wasn’t surveyed is Gainesville Regional Utilities, which is a municipally owned, multi-service utility in Florida that is overseen by a mayor and elected commissioners, an arrangement similar to that in Colorado Springs.

Spokesman Dan Jesse said the Gainsville utility, which provides water, wastewater, electricity, natural gas and telecommunications services, is treated like any other city department. Conflict-of-interest questions have never come up, he said, adding that the utility’s profits are returned the general fund and account for about 35 percent of the city’s revenues.

Paige said a utilities oversight board consisting only of elected members could have drawbacks. For example, the approval of a rate hike might lead to disapproval at the polls, which would make elected members less inclined to approve rate increases.

“Business decisions would become political decisions,” he said.

But Councilman Randy Purvis said that any oversight board should consist of elected members who are answerable to the citizens because they are the ultimate owners of Colorado Springs Utilities.

Colorado Springs Utilities Board meeting

1 p.m. Wednesday

Plaza of the Rockies, 121 S. Tejon St., south tower, fifth floor

For more information: www.csu.org