The Truesdale Board of Aldermen approved the city’s 2025 budget and 3% increases to utility rates for water and sewer at their June 25 meeting. 

The measures were approved following a public hearing. There were no comments from attendees. 

Truesdale’s fiscal year runs from July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026. 

Monthly water rates will increase from $11.47 for the first 1,000 gallons and $5.04 for each additional 1,000 gallons to $11.82 for the first 1,000 gallons and $5.20 for each additional 1,000 gallons. 

Monthly sewer charges will increase from $4.10 to $4.23. In addition Truesdale residents also pay Warrenton’s sewer rates since the city does not have a wastewater treatment plant and contracts with Warrenton for sewer services. 

According to the budget approved at the meeting, the increase in sewer rates is based on an assumed increase in Warrenton’s sewer rates although Warrenton’s fiscal year runs from July 1 to December 31 and those decisions will not be made until later this year. 

The city expects to pay roughly $130,000 in fees to Warrenton for the use of their sewer system and wastewater treatment plant in fiscal year 2025. 

Truesdale does not differentiate water and sewer rates between residential and commercial customers. 

The budget approved by the board is still subject to change, but the document provides an idea of where the city intends to allocate funds, and what can be anticipated by residents. 

“This budget is more than a financial document,” wrote City Clerk Elsa Smith-Fernandez. “It is a reflection of the city’s core values, thoughtful stewardship and ongoing commitment to transparent, service-driven local government.”

The proposed budget anticipates $1,824,644 in general revenue for the city, including roughly $450,000 in property tax revenue and an additional $210,000 in utility tax revenue. 

That figure is a slight reduction from estimated revenues of fiscal year 2024, in which the city brought in just under $2.1 million. 

According to the proposed budget, the city’s beginning balance for the year in reserves is just over $600,000, a reduction from the previous year’s beginning balance of roughly $963,000. 

The city also has roughly $127,000 in emergency funds held in two separate certificate of deposit accounts, according to the proposed budget. 

The city is projected to break even in fiscal 2025, with estimated expenses of $1,824,644. That figure is a slight decrease from last year’s estimated expenditures of just under $2.1 million but a significant increase from fiscal year 2023’s actual expenditures of just under $1.3 million. 

The largest proposed increase is in personnel costs, which are proposed at roughly $642,000, an increase from an estimated $586,000 in fiscal 2024 and roughly $465,000 in fiscal 2023. 

Although the water and sewer rates have increased, the city’s water fund is projected to break even in fiscal year 2025 with revenues and expenses of just over $780,000. It is important to note that the water fund’s budget was structured similarly in fiscal year 2024 where the estimated year-end revenues and expenses were both just under $600,000. 

In fiscal year 2023, where the most recent actual values are available, the water fund saw roughly $635,000 in revenues and only $464,000 in expenses. 

The city is also projecting to raise roughly $170,000 in sales tax revenue from its 1% sales tax assessed on retail sales. 

One of the few funds that will not see significant changes in fiscal year 2025 was in the police department’s budget, where the city projects a reduction in revenues from an estimated $35,000 in fiscal year 2024 to $22,000 in fiscal year 2025. 

Those revenues come from fees associated with serving warrants along with any fines assessed by the department. 

The police department will also see a marginal increase in expenses, rising from just under $446,000 in fiscal year 2024 to just under $449,000 in fiscal year 2025.