The County of St. Paul and the Town of Elk Point formed the Elk Point/St. Paul Water Commission to manage the water transmission line from St. Paul to Elk Point. During the formation of the Commission, a Business Plan was negotiated and developed whereby the County agreed to pay 20% of the administration and debenture expenses as the County was only able to access 20% of the volume of water in the transmission line for County residents and purposes.
The Town of Elk Point is now requesting that the County amend the Business Plan starting in 2016 so that the County and Town share the administration expenses on a 50/50 basis.
The following is an approximation of administration costs: The 2015 expenses for administration of the Commission totalled $25,696.27. Using the current Business Plan formula, the County's portion was $5,139.26 and the Town of Elk Point's portion was $20,557.01. A 50/50 cost-share in 2015 would have increased the County's contribution by $7,708.87, making it so that both municipalities were contributing $12,848.14.
The Commission's administration costs have been fairly constant from year to year.