Power Board discusses 2023-24 audit; no findings reported

RACHEL TOWNSEND

Managing Editor

Members of the Power Board met Wednesday at noon with Katie Little of Coward Reese Sargent in Martin to discuss the 2023-24 audit. The audit resulted in no findings.

Members present during the meeting included Rawlin Fowlkes, acting Chair Walt Bradshaw, and Tommy Allmon.

Others present included Dyersburg Electric System [DES] President/CEO Robby Richards, Dyersburg Electric V.P. of Finance/Secretary Danielle Dixon, and Katie Little.

The audit was completed on September 25, 2024.

Audit highlights include:

*Total assets and deferred outflows of resources at year-end totaling $55.15M

*Liabilities and deferred inflows totaled $43.04M

*Net investments in capital assets decreased by $269,531 due to the depreciation of capital assets being greater than the amount of additions during the fiscal year.

*Restricted net position decreased by $799,944 (54.76%). Unrestricted net position increased $1,055,171 (15.31%).

* Income before transfers for fiscal year 2024 was $1.11M. In fiscal year 2023, income was $1.89M. According to the audit, the decrease is due to fewer electric energy sales of 10.84%.

*Operating revenues were reported as $38.64M, a decrease of $4.49M from fiscal year 2023. This was also attributed to the 10.84% drop in electric energy sales.

*Operating expenses were $38.08M, a decrease from fiscal year 2023 of $3.44M. The decrease is attributed to a drop in purchased power of 10.67%.

Noted by Little, total operating revenue was down $4,485,538; however, expenses were also down by $3,438,516. It was noted by the committee that electric services were used in excess of $1M for the property that formerly housed Heckethorn Manufacturing. Services were used by an outside contractor preparing the location to fall in compliance with Environmental Protection Agency regulations.

Dyersburg Electric has paid down its initial $2.75M bond taken out in March of 2019. The balance as of June 30, 2024, was $1,525,000. The interest on the bond is stated at 3.29%, with interest accrual in 2023-2024 of $20,905.

Noted by Richards, Dyersburg Electric currently has $11, 053,046 in CDs. Richards says the funds are a reserve in the event of an emergency. Richards says that while the amount may appear excessive, the price to replace a substation in the event of a catastrophe can be upwards of $10M.

A new addition to this year’s audit was the pension fund. The net position of the pension was reported to be $10,229,983. Richards says more employees are now participating in the Defined Contribution Plan. There are currently 37 total participants, with 20 participating in the plan actively and 17 receiving benefits. Richards says that while employees used to opt for a lump sum disbursement, the mindset toward retirement investments has changed and more employees are beginning to opt for allocations to make their savings stretch farthest.

The audit will be presented before the full board for approval on Monday, September 30 at noon. A motion to the effect was made by Fowlkes and seconded by Allmon, with all others voting in favor.