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• O Lift Station Mechanic and Wastewater Collection Service Worker necessary for taking a more proactive approach to the operations and maintenance of the collection system's performance The total cost of the eight (8) additional positions is $514,900. The budget as proposed does not contain any rate increases. The recently implemented three tier rate structure is expected to generate an additional $1 million in water sales revenue in the upcoming fiscal year. The recent early payoff of the Water & Sewer Revenue Refunding Bonds, Series 2009 will provide a reduction of $2,880,750 in debt service costs. While no CPI increase is recommended for the upcoming fiscal year, it is anticipated that these increases will be needed on an annual basis going forward (as discussed in the Rate Study). Funding to address deferred capital and maintenance projects is included for a total of $4,857,000. This is the first year of a five-year plan for the Department of Utility Services to catch up on deferred capital and maintenance projects that went unfunded during the economic downturn. The addition of the two Project Manager positions will help in getting these additional projects completed. Also included in the budget is approximately $500,000 for the purchase of Micro -C chemical and the necessary instrumentation required for implementation into our current wastewater treatment facilities. The use of Micro -C is intended to help the Utility in achieving Advanced Wastewater Treatment (AWT) Standards at all three regional plants as well as Blue Cypress through a combined biological and chemical regimen. If successful, this process would assist the Utility in reducing the total nitrogen effluent concentration discharged from the County's wastewater treatment facilities. While achievement of the Ilandard is not guaranteed, the process has resulted in success at the West Regional WWTF. Information Technology Fund The total proposed budget for the Information Technology Fund is $3,216,933, reflecting an increase of $1,043,418 or 48.0%. The budget reflects an increase of two (2) positions at a cost of $207,414. These include a Multi -Media position as well as an IT Director. The addition of a Director position will provide guidance and cohesiveness across GIS, Information Systems and Telecommunications. Cybersecurity breaches and ransomware attacks are a constant concern for the County and increased focus on protecting our network is of the utmost importance. In addition, there is $77,000 budgeted for an upgraded email archive system as well as a spare server for use in the event of a failed or crashed server. A $40,000 virtual machine server is also proposed in the upcoming budget to provide improved disaster recovery, reduced hardware costs, and faster server provisioning and deployment. 17