LEGISLATIVE SERVICES AGENCY
OFFICE OF FISCAL AND MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS
200 W. Washington St., Suite 301
Indianapolis, IN 46204
(317) 233-0696
iga.in.gov
FISCAL IMPACT STATEMENT
LS 6951 NOTE PREPARED: Jan 25, 2024
BILL NUMBER: SB 247 BILL AMENDED: Jan 25, 2024
SUBJECT: Water and Wastewater Utility Infrastructure.
FIRST AUTHOR: Sen. Koch BILL STATUS: CR Adopted - 1
st
House
FIRST SPONSOR:
FUNDS AFFECTED: GENERAL IMPACT: State & Local
XDEDICATED
FEDERAL
Summary of Legislation: (Amended) The bill amends the statute concerning the acquisition of a water or
wastewater utility to provide that if:
(1) the appraised value of the utility property to be acquired does not exceed $3 M; and
(2) the purchase price for the utility property is less than the appraised value; the utility company
seeking to acquire the utility property of an offered utility:
the acquiring utility company may submit to the Indiana Utility Regulatory Agency (IURC) a petition to
include in the acquiring utility company's rate base specified costs associated with the acquisition.
The bill sets forth certain information that must be included in an acquiring utility company's 30 day
administrative filing. It provides that if the IURC approves an acquiring utility company's petition, the IURC:
(1) may authorize that only the full purchase price be recorded as the acquiring utility company's net original
cost of acquisition; and (2) shall provide that incidental and other costs of the acquisition are subject to a
reasonableness review as part of the acquiring utility company's next base rate case.
Effective Date: July 1, 2024.
Explanation of State Expenditures: The bill provides exemptions to sale petition filing requirements for
sale of a distressed water or wastewater utility. Instead, if the sale of a distressed utility meets the
requirements in the bill, a purchasing utility would file a 30-day administrative filing with the IURC
concerning the sale. This change could decrease IURC workload to review distressed water and wastewater
utility sale petition filings and instead review administrative filings, if the filings are not contested. To the
extent these filings are contested and would require a hearing, there would be no workload savings to the
IURC.
SB 247 1 Additional Information - Since CY 2015, the IURC received a total of 29 requests for mergers and
acquisitions of water and wastewater treatment facilities.
Explanation of State Revenues:
Explanation of Local Expenditures: (Revised) The bill would increase municipality workload to comply
with the requirements in statute if a municipality intends to transfer, acquire, or improve a natural gas utility
the entity owns.
(Revised) Additional Information - Currently, the statutory requirements for the transfer, acquisition, and
improvement of a municipally-owned utility do not apply to Indianapolis and natural gas utilities owned by
municipalities. The requirements currently apply to all electric, water, wastewater, or combined water and
wastewater utilities owned by municipalities, except those owned by Indianapolis.
The bill would expand these requirements to include natural gas utilities owned by municipalities. There
are currently 19 municipally-owned natural gas utilities in the state, of which only one is currently under
IURC authority.
Explanation of Local Revenues:
State Agencies Affected: IURC.
Local Agencies Affected: Municipally-owned natural gas utilities.
Information Sources: Luke Wilson, IURC;
https://www.in.gov/oucc/watersewer/tips-and-publications/municipal-utilities-a-brief-regulatory-overview/
Fiscal Analyst: Bill Brumbach, 317-232-9559.
SB 247 2