Jun. 6--THOMASVILLE -- City of Thomasville officials say some utility funds are under or over in revenues for 2009, but, overall, the services are doing well for the first third of the year.

Don Atkinson, assistant city manager of utilities, said some utilities as of April 30 -- reporting is not complete for May -- are off compared to the same time last year.

"We expected 2009 to be down somewhat with the state of the overall economy and other factors," he said Friday. "In many cases, our reduction in revenues is offset by reduced expenses. For example, when electric sales are down, our power purchases are lower, also."

City Manager Steve Sykes said, generally speaking, utility funds are doing very well through the first third of 2009.

He gave a brief utilities update at Wednesday's Thomasville City Council workshop. He specifically addressed electric, water and sewer, explaining that sewer is doing well and the city is watching electric costs.

The city manager said a utility struggling right now is water, which is a problem across the Southeast.

"We've had two or three years of strong drought and that helped mold customer choices, some voluntary and some not," Sykes told council. "We've seen some conservation influences added to the fact that we've had some record rainfall in the spring of this year, and we have a reduced amount of water sold for the first four months of the year."

He said revenues are significantly down in the water department. Currently, water is underfunded by $175,000 through April 30.

"Every effort will be made to offset the loss in water revenue," Sykes said Friday. "Our staff has been challenged to be resourceful and innovative to reduce the effects of the current funding shortfall. It should see some recovery during summer months. However, consumption is likely to remain lower than normal."

Sykes said, unless the city sees a significant increase in water consumption, its "only option is to reduce any expense that does not jeopardize safe, efficient service to our customers."

"So far, water is the only service that is underperforming due to the recent abundance of rainfall," he said. "In the big picture, we will be thankful for the rain."

Electric is underfunded by $125,000, but Sykes said it should recover during the summer months as electric consumption increases.

"One key factor affecting both revenue and expense for the electric utility is our electric generation managed by MEAG," Atkinson said.