In 2013, Raftelis celebrated its 20th anniversary, and this year proved to be one of our best ever. We added 3 new offices and 11 new consultants, bringing our total staff to more than 50 professionals. This growth is directly attributed to our clients who entrust us to provide assistance and advice on financial, rate, and management issues, which are extremely critical to their agencies. We appreciate this opportunity and look forward to continuing to serve our clients in 2014. Below we have listed some of the major happenings at Raftelis in 2013.
February
With the hiring of Habib Isaac, Raftelis expanded its capabilities to create assessment programs to fund government services ranging from fire to landscaping, as well as the undergrounding of overhead utilities.
March
The 2012 Water and Wastewater Rate Survey was published. This biennial survey was conducted and published in collaboration between RFC and AWWA. You can purchase the survey from AWWA’s bookstore.
The DC Water Blue Horizon 2020 Strategic Plan was published. This plan was developed with assistance from Raftelis, and we are currently working with DC Water on the implementation phase of the plan. View the Strategic Plan
Raftelis consultants Sanjay Gaur, Bryan Lim, and Khanh Phan wrote an article titled, “California Water Rate Trends,” published in Journal AWWA.
April
Our entire staff met in Charlotte for a two-day retreat, continuing a tradition of annual all-staff retreats. Each retreat has been in Charlotte, but for 2014, much like the Super Bowl MVP, we are going to Disney World!
May
With the hiring of Rick Giardina, Raftelis opened our Denver Metro Office. This office now has a staff of five financial/rate consultants.
August
Raftelis opened office locations in Murrieta, CA and Greensboro, NC.
The article “Water and Wastewater Rates on the Rise” was published in Journal AWWA. This article was written by Raftelis consultants Rocky Craley and Catherine Noyes.
September
Raftelis’ assistance to the City of Baltimore with a stormwater fee implementation culminates in initial bills being mailed to customers in mid-September. This fee is expected to reach over 200,000 customers, generating more than $35 million to support stormwater activities.
November
Over the year, many of Raftelis’ staff members, along with numerous industry experts, developed the manuscript for the 4th edition of the book Water and Wastewater Finance and Pricing. The book is currently in the process of being published and will be available mid-year 2014.
December
Raftelis wrapped up the initial assessment phase of a multi-phase Organizational Optimization Initiative for the City of Baltimore Bureau of Water and Wastewater’s Organizational Optimization Initiative. This project involved reviewing the operations of the entire Bureau with the primary objective of improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the organization.
Raftelis delivered recommendations regarding the customer service functions of the City of Clearwater. This review looked at the department’s organizational structure, management and administration, and key utility customer service components including policies and procedures, processes, technology, workloads, and communication.
