JAMESTOWN – The issue of whether or not the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities will be sharing its profit with the city of Jamestown will be settled today.
The BPU will hold a meeting Tuesday afternoon at its offices on Steele St. to discuss the matter of sharing $475,000 in dividends from this current year with the city. City officials have already included the money in the recently approved 2014 budget, although not every member of the BPU is in favor of the dividend sharing.
However, Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi, who serves as BPU President, says that it only makes sense for the BPU to share profits with the city, since the city is the sole owner of the operation.
“As with a dividend payment for any type of business that is provided to stockholders, that is something that is looked at on a year-to-year basis,” Teresi explained. “Depending on how the performance of the operation is doing, the circumstances in the economy and what the officers of that corporation feel is a reasonable share of profits – dividend statements are made and dividend payments are distributed. That’s the way it should work in any private business model, similar to what we’re doing here with our private business model operation.”
In addition to Teresi, city council president Greg Rabb, also a member of the BPU, regards the BPU as part of the city, which means its only appropriate to share profits…
“We’re all in this together. Either we succeed together or we fail together,” Rabb told WRFA following the November city council meeting. “The BPU is a great asset and there are times when I feel it is appropriate to use [dividend payments] and I think this year is one of those times – especially because through a lot of hard work and good management, the BPU is doing very well. I think it is a testament to what you can do in the public sector. There is no reason why the taxpayers of this city shouldn’t benefit from a well-run utility. It’s an asset.”
During its November meeting, BPU member Wayne Rishell said he didn’t want to share dividends with the city unless it moved forward and implemented various cost-saving recommendations from BPU officials.
The 2014 proposed budget for the BPUs electric division and the budget for the water division have also failed to include the dividend sharing. Under the city’s recently approved budget – $400,000 would come from electric and $75,000 would come from the water division.
The BPU will meet Tuesday to approve next year’s budget and decide whether or not the dividend sharing will take place. According to both Rabb and Teresi, there is enough support on the BPU to make that happen.
Tuesday’s BPU meeting begins at 12:30 p.m. in the BPU board room on Steele St. and is open to the public.
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