|
Issue
/ Question
|
Comment
|
| 1) What
is the value of the gas franchise? |
The City
has an undisclosed appraisal value in hand. ONG says their appraisal value
will be released before the Aug. 9th vote. A 3rd (independent) appraisal
will likely be requested. The cost (per the existing franchise agreement)
is apparently only for the depreciated hard assests (pipes and meters)
and not for any goodwill or projected profits, which would normally accompany
a business buyout. |
| 2) What
oversight will citizens have to control city gas fees? |
ONG fees
are controlled by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission which Collinsville
voter have a small percentage of votes to elect. Having all other ONG
communities with same fees likely negates that small percentage disadvantage.
Collinsville fees would be set by the Collinsville City Commission which
Collinsville voters have 100% of votes to elect. |
|
3) Without raising
fees higher than they would have been under ONG, can the City do all
of the following?
- pay off the purchase
debt
- reinvest in
maintaining & expanding the system
- provide a level
of service and safety equivalent to ONG's
- pay the salary
of additional experienced gas employees
- purchase additional
equipment required to maintain a gas system
- have "profit"
left over to help fund other services which are under funded at present
(due to low sales tax revenues and other factors)
|
Mayor Sallee says
yes, based on the numbers he and the commission have seen from their
"experts". Several others at the July 21st Town Hall meeting
remain skeptical pending a look at those numbers. I might add here also
that there was a mixture of folks ranging from satisfied with both their
existing City utility service and ONG service to those not happy with
either one.
Mayor Sallee gave
an estimate of $75,000 to purchase the required additional equipment.
He gave Mannford as an example of a city running their gas system with
2 to 3 people.
When asked if Collinsville's
gas system was a "cash cow" for ONG?, ONG officials replied
"no". They cited the $61/customer net yearly profit in that
context.
Another item I didn't
add to the list on the left is some form of helping the school &
library systems adjust for the potential reduction in ad valorum taxes.
I suspect that can't be a direct dollar amount as it will likely be
more in the form of mutual cooperation on joint projects and potential
gain from growth or increased services.
|
| Can the
city provide a level of service and safety equivalent to ONG's? |
I don't
think I'm going out on the limb at all by answering this one with an obvious
yes (although anything I say someone will disagree with). The real question
is above in the cost of providing that same level of service and safety.
Some at the meeting were concerned that the two-day training session for
2 city employees was deemed adequate. The Mayor stated that was just an
initial step and that more training and hiring of experienced people would
follow if the voters approve the franchise purchase. I don't think it
was mentioned at the town hall meet, but I recall from the School Board
discussion, Mayor Sallee mentioning a potentially "long transition
period" with ONG to ensure the city was ready before ONG stepped
out. |
| Are all
Oklahoma city owned gas utilities profitable? |
No.
David Chester (of Collinsville and an ONG employee) cited Chelsea as continuing
to increase their debt with a fairly new system. The Mayor cited Drumright
as an example of a city that has just upgraded their entire system and
they are still making money. Drumright was cited by an unidentified contractor
at Thursday's meeting as being unable to to pay his bid price to repair
a leak "so they just left it unfixed".
| 7/26/05
Note: Ed Tinker (Drumright City Manager) says the claim above
(about not having money to fix or not fixing a leak) "is an
absolute lie" and he challenged that contractor to produce
any documentation to claim otherwise. Ed says he has reserves for
repairs but they have not been needed. -- Ted Wright |
Sperry was cited as
a city "with system problems". Granite, one of the cities Collinsville
has received positive information on, was cited by ONG's Jim Stout as
having been built by the city in the 1930s and having no debt service.
Mannford is one of the other cities Collinsville has used as a positive
example. Jim Whitlock was Mannford City Manager before coming to Collinsville
in January 2005, and helped plant the seed of Collinsville running their
own gas utility (according to Mayor Sallee) before his untimely death
in March 2005. Jim Stout mentioned that ONG has been asked, in the past,
by the Corporation Commission to take over gas utitities that were "in
trouble". |
| ... others
too numerous to mention (for free) ... |
|
