La Junta sanitation fund reports $205,474 deficit; statements show $17,100 difference
July statements show a $205,473.75 summary deficit, while the detailed fund calculation shows a $188,373.75 deficit. A possible rate increase remains under discussion, with no amount or formal action recorded.
La Junta’s sanitation fund reported a $205,473.75 year-to-date deficit through July. The city’s statements also show a $17,100 difference tied to an outstanding OCLI liability, but do not explain what OCLI is or how the amount was recorded.
The July sanitation financial statements, prepared Aug. 6, list $832,426.07 in revenue and $1,037,899.82 in expenses. The detailed expenditure schedule totals $1,020,799.82, producing a $188,373.75 deficit that matches the negative fund-total line on the balance sheet. The $17,100 OCLI liability accounts for the difference between the two expense totals. The records do not identify the underlying invoice or service or explain the accounting treatment.
The largest detailed costs were $300,563.11 in salaries, $87,984.10 in landfill costs and $57,079.19 in motor-pool maintenance. Transportation capital outlay totaled $239,747 against a $240,000 budget. Administrative and general expenses totaled $109,278.33, including $49,116.69 in administrative costs and $48,708.31 in franchise fees.
The statements also show $2,122.51 in collection costs and uncollectibles, more than twice the $1,000 budget. A separate uncollectable-accounts account showed a $66.67 credit against a $400 budget.
A rate increase has not advanced to a formal proposal in the records reviewed. At the July 14 Utility Board meeting, Sanitation Director Martin Montoya said the JK Rate Study indicated sanitation was “due for another increase.” City Manager Michael Hart recommended considering Consumer Price Index data instead of commissioning a new study every few years, according to the meeting minutes.
The board’s Aug. 11 agenda packet) lists sanitation as a departmental report; its only specified action item is a utility-board vacancy. Because Aug. 11 was still upcoming as of the reporting date and no final minutes were available, the record does not support reporting any rate-increase action as completed. No rate amount, effective date, public hearing, motion or vote is documented.
The sanitation supplemental report lists 3,267 customers in July, down from 3,286 a year earlier, and 569.31 tons sent to the Otero County Landfill, down 5.01% from July 2025. The records show the fund’s customer and waste volumes but do not attribute the deficit to a single operational cause.