A state audit of a financially-troubled rural water district finds that in the past two years, the district has paid off about $6 million of its debts.
The Xenia Rural Water District serves more than 9,400 customers in 11 counties in central and north central Iowa. In 2009, the district was unable to repay $135 million in debts. By 2013, the district had refinanced its debt.
The latest audit finds rate increases and growth in water connection fees boosted Xenia’s revenue by 4.5 percent last year. Auditors who reviewed records from 2015 and 2016 note the district has positive cash flow, has made full debt repayments and is in a financial position to repay new bonds that were issued last September.
The Xenia Rural Water District was established in 1977 for rural customers in Dallas and Boone Counties. It’s now been extended to customers in Polk, Story, Adair, Madison, Guthrie, Greene, Calhoun, Webster and Hamilton Counties. The district’s headquarters are in Bouton, a town in Dallas County that had 129 residents in the 2010 Census.