Konish: SLAs hide transfers of GRU ratepayer money to the City

Letter to the editor

At their last meeting, the GRU Authority voted unanimously to forgive $3 million in FY24 GRU losses on IT (NOT UTILITY) services provided to the City of Gainesville. This loss is not reflected in GRU’s financial statements. It is an in-kind contribution from GRU to the City.

In FY23, the GRU IT loss was $4.5 million.

In the Auditor General’s 2022 report on the City of Gainesville, GRU’s IT and indirect cost allocation losses were approximately $700,000 and $600,000 in FY18 and FY19, respectively.

The GRU CFO and Chief Information Officer stated publicly at an Authority meeting that former CEO/GM Tony Cunningham had falsified the GRU IT “Full Cost Allocation Report,” and Mr. Cunningham admitted it. Cunningham’s defense was that he had reduced GRU losses from the $4.5 million in the previous year and planned to do more in future years.

GRU Service Level Agreement (SLA) losses on IT services involve only one of 42 identified “financial associations” between GRU and the City – but there are more than that. The vast majority of such “associations” are funded through an “interexchange fund” and are unencumbered by either an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) or SLA.

As GRUA Director Craig Carter has said, transfers are based merely on a “wink and nod.” GRU and the City have refused to comply at all with my public records request in regard to this matter for a year.

Such a weak and dishonest handling of a very serious matter addressed specifically by both the Auditor General (see Finding 3) and HB1645 DOES NOT serve the pecuniary interests of either GRU ratepayers or employees.

In his brief stint as an Authority “Director,” now-CEO Ed Bielarski abandoned a proposed three-year pause on the direct GRU transfer (Governmental Services Contribution) to the City and received the full support of Carter and Director Eric Lawson for his segue from unpaid Authority “Director” to well-paid GRU CEO/GM.

Jim Konish, Gainesville

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