Columbia Water and Light to make financial statements more transparent for future budget

The Columbia Water and Light Advisory Board discussed the recent issue of utility rate increases in a meeting from 8 a.m. until 10 a.m. Tuesday that the Columbia city council brought up during a previous council meeting.

Some members of the board wanted Water and Light to better explain to customers why the utility rate increase was needed.

Jim Windsor, assistant director of Water and Light, said the increase is needed to cover the increase of debt over the next six years.

The board also wanted financial statements to be available on a month-by-month basis and to include a summary of the report on a cover page. The board also asked to have the financial reports to be made available for the public online.

The financial statements that were handed out during the meeting had typos and discrepancies that the board wants fixed and explained for the next meeting.