Municorn.us Data services for water and wastewater

Rate studies, consumption panels and condition screens for water and sewer utilities, the firms that advise them, and the state programs that oversee them. Every figure names the document it came from.

Email us See published work Cambridge, MA · Dallas, TX

Two exhibits

IllustrativeNames, dates and figures invented.

The week before the study starts

Is this billing extract usable?

Billing extract, first pass

City of Ellery water fund · 8,412 accounts · 24 monthly periods to June 2026

Forty-seven account-periods carry a flag. All forty-seven stay in the panel with the reason beside them.

ClassMeterPeriodsFlaggedWhy
Residential5/8 in240
Residential1 in242Meter changed mid-period
Commercial1 in240
Commercial2 in243Consumption implausible
Irrigation1 in1818Partial period
Industrial4 in240
Code 58mixed2424Class code unmapped

We flag rather than drop. What gets excluded from the study is not our decision, and the reason for every flag is on the row it belongs to.

Budget season

Can we afford the capital plan?

Financial plan

City of Ellery water fund · FY27 to FY32 · $26M lead service line replacement, drawn FY29

Coverage falls below the 1.20× covenant in FY30 and does not recover. Scenario B holds it with a 9.5% increase in FY29.

YearNet revenueDebt serviceCoverageMargin over 1.20×
FY27$6.02M$4.18M1.44×+0.24×
FY28$6.18M$4.31M1.43×+0.23×
FY29$6.35M$5.25M1.21×+0.01×
FY30$6.41M$5.94M1.08×−0.12×
FY31$6.52M$6.11M1.07×−0.13×
FY32$6.64M$6.18M1.07×−0.13×

Debt service is the existing schedule plus the new loan, level over twenty years. The 1.20× minimum is the bond ordinance, section 5.2.

YearNet revenueDebt serviceCoverageMargin over 1.20×
FY27$6.02M$4.18M1.44×+0.24×
FY28$6.18M$4.31M1.43×+0.23×
FY29$7.02M$5.25M1.34×+0.14×
FY30$7.28M$5.94M1.23×+0.03×
FY31$7.46M$6.11M1.22×+0.02×
FY32$7.61M$6.18M1.23×+0.03×

Same debt service. Net revenue reflects a 9.5% increase adopted in FY29 and no increase after it. Bond ordinance, section 5.2.

If the coverage your bonds require is higher than what your customers can pay, rate design cannot close the gap. That is a decision for the board, and the subject of a separate study.

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Open the water loss index

We publish verified facts and state when underlying data is missing.

We will read your last rate study at no charge.

Send the last rate study, the audited statements, the current rate schedule and a recent billing extract. We reconcile what the study assumed against what you actually billed, and against what your system filed with its regulator.

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Water and sewer utilities, and the cities and districts that own them
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The water loss index is a public example of this work, built from published data.