Action Please By: September 10, 1997
To: Members, Subscribers & Attorneys From: National Office Date: August 11, 1997 Subject: Report To The Membership
1997 Leadership Retreat
1998 Preliminary BudgetReference: MU 97-16
AMSA's Board of Directors and committee leadership met recently in Seattle, Washington in conjunction with the Association's Summer Conference. The Board Meeting was preceded by a Leadership Retreat that included discussion of a wide range of strategic planning issues. Board of Directors action at the July meeting included adoption of a revised Association dues structure and adoption of a preliminary Association budget for the calendar year 1998. The preliminary 1998 General Fund and Technical Action Fund budgets (provided herein for your review as Attachments A and B, respectively) and annual reports provided to the Board of Directors by AMSA's Special Committees (Attachment E). Please note that the General Fund and Technical Action Fund budgets are presented separately, along with a consolidated summary of AMSA's overall proposed budget for next year (Attachment C). The following provides a report to the membership on recent actions.
Consensus Positions Frame Leadership Agenda
AMSA's leadership focused its attention on a wide range of planning and policy issues during the 1997 Leadership Retreat, held on July 18 following the Summer Conference. Three consensus positions framed the wide ranging discussion. They were as follows:
We want to increase our clout/influence.
We want to maintain and improve upon our core competencies of legislative & regulatory lobbying.
We want AMSA to grow.
With these statements as foundation, the leadership tackled issues including expanding AMSA's membership, increasing emphasis on regional/state issues, responding effectively to technology/web site issues, and increasing emphasis on management and public information.
In the course of the discussions, AMSA's leadership affirmed their desire to see the Association continue to be the voice of the publicly-owned treatment work (POTW) community in the legislative and regulatory arenas. In support of this principle AMSA's leadership endorsed both the streamlining of the
Association's dues structure (adopted by the Board on July 19 and shown as Attachment D) and the elimination of the Associate Member category (pending membership approval of a Bylaws amendment to be offered in early 1998). Both of these actions take great strides to support AMSA's continuing role as the voice of all POTWs and sets the stage for increased clout, improvement of the Association's core competencies and future growth. A membership development strategy is currently being prepared by the National Office to target future outreach efforts.
State/Regional Issues To Receive Increased Attention
As the Association's leaders looked to the future, it was clear that the opportunity exists for AMSA to further serve its members by increasing its role and involvement in state and regional issues. Citing frequent "disconnects" in policy and position interpretation and implementation between U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) headquarters and regional offices -- and among regions and states themselves -- the leadership made a commitment to encourage and facilitate communication within and among regions.
AMSA's new web site and efforts to reach out to specific sectors of the POTW community also received leadership support at the retreat. AMSA members can anticipate new and enhanced service through http:\\www.amsa-cleanwater.org and additional special focus workshop (i.e. Pretreatment Coordinators Workshop), most likely initially in the areas of public information and legal issues.
Preliminary 1998 Budget Adopted
As noted, AMSA's preliminary 1998 budget has two components, a General Fund which addresses day-to-day activities of the Association, and a Technical Action Fund (TAF), established in 1995 to support key AMSA initiatives. The Consolidated Preliminary 1998 Budget projects income of $2,001,000 and expenses of $2,031,000, with projected reserves at the end of the year of $451,000.
Contained in the adopted preliminary 1998 General Fund Budget is the anticipated addition of approximately 30 new members and the move from the current, complicated, dues structure to a streamlined and more manageable bracket system based on population as recommended by the Planning & Bylaws Committee and adopted by the Board (see Attachment D). Included in the Board's action was a schedule calling for immediate implementation of the new dues structure for new members and implementation in 1998 for existing members. In moving to this new system, it should be noted that some members will experience slightly higher, and others slightly lower, dues next year. With projected growth over the next few years, however, dues should stabilize with additional income derived from new members and other sources.
In summary, the Proposed 1998 Preliminary General Fund Budget assumes roughly an 9.5% increase in income and a 7.0% increase in expenses over 1997 levels. Reserves at the end of the year are projected at $323,000, the same amount of reserves projected for the end of this year. This budget has to be viewed, however, within the context of the Proposed 1998 Preliminary Technical Action Fund Budget, a discussion of which follows.
Technical Action Fund Continues To Provide Benefits
Established in commemoration of AMSA's 25th Anniversary, the "stand alone" Technical Action Fund strengthens the Association's capability to implement its short and long-term regulatory and legislative objectives by providing dedicated funds to gather and analyze data, initiate litigation, and secure the services of consultants having expertise beyond that which the National Office can provide. These funds are strictly dedicated to projects and activities that impact pending legislation and anticipated or proposed regulations and policy initiatives.
In its short two years of existence AMSA's TAF has provided nearly $400,000 in support of legislative, regulatory and legal AMSA initiatives. These initiatives include, but are not limited to, extensive work in the whole effluent toxicity area, air quality research and data collection, Great Lakes Initiative litigation and settlement negotiations; our Privatization Checklist and Managed Competition publications; and, government relations support of our efforts with regard to POTW liability under Superfund.
The funding level for the TAF is $150,000/year, provided through income set aside from membership dues. Whatever is not spent in one year is carried over to the next year for budget purposes. The Proposed 1998 Technical Action Fund Budget projects $270,000 in income and $300,000 in expenses for next year. Technical Action Fund reserves at the end of the year are projected at $128,000.
Conclusion
These are exciting times for AMSA! We continue to focus on our core competencies in the legislative and regulatory arenas. At the same time, we have committed time and resources to address the challenging management issues faced by our members. We our growing in stature and just recently launched our web site -- an action that ultimately will change how we function as an association.
Over the course of the next few years, AMSA will face enormous challenges and have remarkable opportunities to flourish and grow. As always, our highest priority is to provide the best representation and highest level of service to our members and the industry at large.
Member Comment Invited
The Board of Directors encourages all members to review the 1998 Preliminary Budgets for both the General Fund and the Technical Action Fund. Please direct any comments you may have to Kumar Kishinchand, AMSA's Treasurer and Chair of Budget & Audit Committee (215/685-6103), AMSA's Executive Director, Ken Kirk (202/833-4653) or other members of the Board of Directors. The Board and committee leadership will meet in Washington on September 29-30 for the Association's Fall Leadership Meetings. The Board will adopt a final 1998 budget at that time. Please provide your comments and recommendations prior to Wednesday, September 10, 1997. Many thanks.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment A - Preliminary 1998 General Fund Budget
Attachment B - Preliminary 1998 Technical Action Fund Budget
Attachment C - Consolidated General Fund & Technical Action Fund Budgets
Attachment D - AMSA Dues Structure - July 1997
Attachment E - Annual Reports of AMSA's Special Committees (Please contact AMSA's National Office at 202/833-AMSA for a copy of this document).