By Brendan Henry
The Surveyor

Berthoud’s Board of Trustees gathered for their routine meeting on Tuesday to discuss the town’s wireless communication code, general code amendments, the water and wastewater master plan and rate study along with the second draft of the town’s 2024 annual budget. All trustees except for May Albrecht were in attendance and Mayor Will Karspeck was absent as well. Mayor Pro Tem Mike Grace led the meeting in the mayor’s absence.

Community Development Director Anne Johnson introduced Ken Fellman, an attorney with national expertise in wireless communication to lead the discussion on the wireless communication code. Fellman was contracted by the town specifically for the subject, and he worked with Erin Smith, the town’s attorney regarding the proposed ordinance. The attorney described small-cell wireless facilities, showing pictures of how well the facilities can blend in as the town has a say in how the facility appears.

The board will get a second reading of the ordinance on Nov. 28.

Following Fellman’s presentation, Johnson returned to speak on the subject of general code amendments. Changes included the clarification of storage container use restricting long-term use, the licensing of temporary businesses and where temporary use may be permitted. Revisions also included the consolidation of the processes for different land use permit types into one table to simplify understanding and additional clarifications in verbiage found within the code.
Director of Water Utilities Ken Matthews presented the water and wastewater master plan rate study. The draft was originally presented during a study session in May, and since then the plan has been completed and an analysis of the capital funding requirements over time compared to current fund balances and projected revenue was performed.
Matthews claims that water and wastewater in town are currently underfunded to maintain regulatory requirements and infrastructure and wants the board to be aware that they must keep up with inflation. The water department is looking at potentially taking out an internal loan, state revolving fund loan or Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan to address financial concerns. Town Administrator Chris Kirk noted that state and federal loans typically come with a lot of strings attached, and said it may be better to take out an internal loan.

The town is planning to look into financial options further before settling on anything too hastily.

After a five-minute break, Kirk walked through each fund and budget request for 2024. Berthoud uses fund accounting, which is a system used by governments and nonprofits to account for funds that are limited to specific purposes. The goal is not to track whether a profit was made but to instead demonstrate accountability that funds are used for specified purposes.

For an overview of the budget, total fund balances have increased from $120 million in 2022 to $132 million in 2023 with funds saved for capital needs, but buying power has been diminished by significant inflation. Committed funds bring the total expected reserve down to just over $100 million.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics in the Denver Metro Area calculated the Consumer Price Index at 8% in 2022 and 4.9% in 2023. The previous one-year increase high in the last 20 years was 3.9% in 2008. Inflation has slowed since 2021, and the expectation is that federal interest rates will stop increasing.

Projections for 2024 include a 9% property tax increase and a 16% sales tax increase from 2023. The town is looking to reduce costs where needed while also focusing on current projects and starting significant road and utility projects.
The total general fund revenue for the 2024 budget currently sits at $12,160,982 with 73% of said revenue coming from taxes.

Budgeted expenditures from the general fund are as follows: Administration with $2,768,105, public safety with $2,636,601, parks with $1,665,783, planning and building at $1,360,213, streets at $1,243,713, recreation activities with $458,057, economic development with $373,271, community outreach with $136,087, leased property with $98,600 and contributions with $60,400. A new addition to budget expenses is the implementation of an engineering department, as the town consults engineers frequently, and the new department would include a town engineer and construction observer. The allotted expense for this department is set at $299,861.

General fund request highlights include a new street maintenance technician, a new neighborhood services officer, a full-time investigator in the sheriff contract, possible downtown development authority formation, laser grading baseball fields and added netting at Town Park, housing needs assessment and continued code updates, additional crosswalk lights, a grinder vacuum, a new fully tooled truck for the forestry department, additional security improvements at Berthoud Reservoir, continued improvements to Town Park’s irrigation systems and electric mowers with possible grant funding.

Town staff will reexamine the 2023 estimates and 2024 budget requests to make sure that all numbers continue to present an accurate financial plan for 2024. Any changes will be taken to the board with a request for adoption on Dec. 12.