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A pay increase for the executive director and a financial and water-use audit were on the Williamsport Municipal Water and Sanitary Authority's agenda Wednesday.
Following an executive session on personnel, the authority reconvened and said after examining the executive director's performance review it approved a 2.2 percent annual increase for the position. The director's salary was $130,000 a year, authority members said, bringing the new salary to $132,860.
An audit of the authority shows it held the line on expenses and operating revenue but experienced a drop in overall use by consumers of water provided by reservoirs.
The report was delivered to the authority staff and board Wednesday by two officials from the auditing firm Baker Tilly. It showed nothing unusual or wrong from a financial analysis of the operations, but recommended minor adjustments as a matter of bookkeeping.
"The key point is a reflection of water use slightly decreasing," said John Baker, authority director of finance, following the meeting.
"People are conserving more," said Michael Miller, authority executive director.
Whether that is going to a car wash that requires payment, doing fewer washes or using less water to water lawns, the audit shows water use to be slightly lower than last year, the officials said.
From a financial bottom line perspective on the water side there is $796,000 in revenue over expenses, the report said.
The management said that has to do with finding reductions in health care and other ways to cut down on employee and operational costs.
The authority is selling 4.9 million gallons of water a day, said Wendy Walter, director of compliance and safety.
Overall, the region is about .25 of an inch below normal rainfall for the year-to-date, she said.
May and June were rainy but August and September have been drier, she noted.
There has been a 4.3 inch deviation over the past 90 days but the reservoirs have 984 million gallons and are 93 percent at capacity, she said.
The authority used some of its reserve water from wellfields in August due to the dry conditions, Walter said.
On the sewer side of the authority, the audit shows $1.1 million of excess cash over expense but any extra cash will be put back into projects, Miller said.
One of the biggest financial costs for the authority occurred in August when a combined sanitary water line collapsed at Campbell Street.
The collapse of the brick material and replacement was a multi-week repair and closure of the street between Third and Fourth streets. It was a cost of nearly $500,000, Miller said.