Overview:

At the Annual Town Meeting held in May 1989, it was voted the Topsfield Water Department move to an ENTERPRISE FUND system of accounting. This legislation, from Chapter 44 Section 53F1/2 of the Massachusetts General Laws, allows the Water Department to operate in a capacity resembling a stand-alone business. The Water Department began operating under Enterprise on July 1, 1990.

Under Enterprise, all revenue and expenses related to the Water Department are accounted for seperately from other town business, and are not considered part of the General Town Fund. This has several advantages:

• Water rates and revenues are more closely matched with anticipated expenses.
• Those receiving town water are assured the money they pay for water is used only to operate the Water Department, not to subsidize the tax revenue and General Town Fund.
• Conversely, those who have their own well or obtain water from a private water supplier are assured their property taxes are not appropriated to pay for operating the Water Department should water rates be insufficient to cover operating costs.
• The Water Department is responsible for its own long-range financial planning to cover major expenditures such as large main breaks, system revovation and expansion, and equipment purchases.

In more simple terms, what the customer pays for water can only be used to operate the Water Department, and the Water Department must generate sufficient revenue to cover the cost of doing business.

Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 44 Section 53F1/2:

Notwithstanding the provisions of section fifty-three or any other provision of law to the contrary, a city or town which accepts the provisions of this section may establish a separate account classified as and "Enterprise Fund", for a utility, health care, recreational or transportation facility, and its operation, as the city or town designate, hereinafter referred to as the enterprise. Such account shall be maintained by the treasurer, and all receipts, revenues, and funds from any source derived from all activities of the enterprise shall be deposited in such separate account. The treasurer may invest the funds in such separate account in the manner authorized by sections fifty-five and fifty-five A of chapter forty-four. Any interest earned thereon shall be credited to and become part of such separate account. The books and records of the enterprise shall be maintained in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and in accordance with the requirements of section thirty-eight.

No later than one hundred and twenty days prior to the beginning of each fiscal year, an estimate of the income for the ensuing fiscal year and a proposed line item budget of the enterprise shall be submitted to the mayor, board of selectmen, or other executive authority of the city or town by the appropriate local entity responsible for operations of the enterprise. Said board, mayor or other executive authority shall submit its recommendations to the town meeting, town council or city council, as the case may be, which shall act upon the budget in the same manner as all other budgets.

The city or town shall include in its tax levy for the fiscal year the amount appropriated for the total expenses of the enterprise and an estimate of the income to be derived by the operations of the enterprise. If the estimated income is less than the total appropriation, the difference shall be added to the tax levy and raised by taxation. If the estimated income is more than the total appropriation, the excess shall be appropriated to a separate reserve fund and used for capital expenditures of the enterprise. If during a fiscal year the enterprise incurs a loss, such loss shall be included in the succeeding fiscal year's budget.

If during a fiscal year the enterprise produces a surplus, such surplus shall be kept in such separate reserve fund and used for the purposes provided therefore in this section.

For the purposes of this section, acceptance in a city shall be by vote of the city council and approval of the mayor, in a town, by vote of a special or annual town meeting and in any other municipality by vote of the legislative body.

A city or town which has accepted the provisions of this section with respect to a designated enterprise may, in like manner, revoke its acceptance.