2005 Annual Report - Erie County Water Authority

Debt AdministrationAt December 31, 2005, the Authority had $79,507,273 in water revenue bond principal outstanding, ascompared to $86,847,273 and $93,347,273 at December 31, 2004 and 2003. Long-term debt outstandingdecreased $7,340,000 during the year ended December 31, 2005, as compared to $6,500,000 during theyear ended December 31, 2004, as a result of making scheduled payments on the Series 1993 FourthResolution (FR), Series 1998B, Series 1998D and Series 2003F bond issues.The Authority’s issuances of Series 1998B, Series 1998D and Series 2003F were through the New YorkState Environmental Facilities Corporation and are rated based on the Environmental FacilitiesCorporation’s rating. The remaining issuances, Series 1992FR, Series 1993A, Series 1993B and Series1993FR, were rated by Moody’s at Aaa (insured). Additional information on the Authority’s long-termdebt can be found in Note 5 of the financial statements.Economic FactorsThe local economy has experienced a steady decline in population and business. However, throughemigration from unserved areas to suburban areas, where the Authority does provide water, the Authorityhas actually experienced about a one percent growth in its customer base. This growth in our account basehas been offset, however, by a steady decrease in overall consumption due to individual conservationefforts and changes in Federal and State laws and regulations which require appliances to use less water.As noted earlier, the Authority’s largest source of operating revenues are water sales to customers. Theserevenues result from rates charged based on water usage by the individual customer. Rates can beadjusted accordingly in order to help meet the expenses of the Authority. Tariff rates are as follows:Meters read and billed quarterly (To Nearest 1,000 Gallons)2005 2006First 300,000 gallons per quarter $ 2.56 $ 2.70 per 1,000 gallonsNext 1,950,000 2.28 2.40 per 1,000 gallonsNext 5,250,000 2.09 2.20 per 1,000 gallonsOver 7,500,000 1.83 1.93 per 1,000 gallonsMeters read and billed monthly (To Nearest 1,000 Gallons)2005 2006First 100,000 gallons per month $ 2.56 $ 2.70 per 1,000 gallonsNext 650,000 2.28 2.40 per 1,000 gallonsNext 1,750,000 2.09 2.20 per 1,000 gallonsOver 2,500,000 1.83 1.93 per 1,000 gallons- 22 -