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GLOSSARY
Accrual Basis of Accounting:
The basis of accounting under which transactions are
recognized when they occur, regardless of the timing
of cash receipts and disbursements.
Actual Revenue or Expenditures:
The revenue and expenditures incurred in previous
fiscal years.
Ad Valorem Tax:
A tax based on value.
Adopted Budget:
Refers to the budget amounts as originally approved by
the Board of Trustees at the beginning of the year.
Annual Budget:
A budget applicable to a single fiscal year.
Annual Budget Process:
The annual budget process consists of activities that
encompass the development, implementation, and
evaluation of a plan for the provision of services and
capital assets for the upcoming fiscal year. This
process is strategic in nature, encompassing a multi-
year financial and operating plan that allocates
resources on the basis of identified goals.
Appropriation:
The legal authorization granted by the Board of
Trustees to make expenditures and to incur obligations
for purposes specified in the Budget.
Assessed Valuation:
A value set on real estate or other property as a basis
for levying taxes within the boundaries of MSD service
areas. The assessed valuation is set by the City and
County Assessor, who are charged with determining
the taxable value of property according to a formula set
by the State of Missouri.
Asset:
Resources owned or held which have monetary value.
Balanced Scorecard Measures:
A measure of the level of activity and service in the
functional areas of the various departments.
Base Budget:
The same level of funding as in the current year
adopted budget with adjustments for one-time costs,
merit, benefit and cost of living increases and general
price adjustments.
Basis of Accounting:
A term referring to when revenues, expenditures, and
transfers and the related assets and liabilities are
recognized in the accounts and reported in the
financial statements.
Beginning Fund Balance:
Fund balance available in a fund from the end of the
prior year, for use in the following year.
Billing and Collection Charge:
Monthly charge imposed by the District to recover the
wastewater program’s share of the costs associated
with issuing and collecting combined wastewater and
stormwater bills.
Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD):
The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical
oxidation of organic matter in five days as determined
by Standard Methods and expressed in milligrams per
liter.
Blockage:
Partial or complete interruption of flow as a result of
some obstruction in a sewer. Also referred to as a
stoppage.
Board:
Refers to the Board of Trustees of the District. The
Board is comprised of six members, three of whom are
appointed by the Mayor of the City of St. Louis and the
remaining three are appointed by the County Executive
of St. Louis County.
Bond Rating:
The rating of bonds as a statement of a locality’s
economic, financial and managerial condition. It
represents the business community’s assessment of
the investment quality of a local government. Highly
rated bonds attract more competition in the
marketplace, thereby lowering interest costs paid by
MSD and its ratepayers.
Bonds:
A written promise to pay a specified sum of money at a
specified date in the future together with periodic
interest at a specified rate.
Branch Sewer:
A sewer that receives wastewater from a relatively
small area and discharges into a main sewer serving
more than one branch sewer area.
Break:
A fracture or opening in a pipe, manhole or other
structure due to structural failure and/or structural
defect.
Budget:
A balanced financial plan for a given period of time,
which includes an appropriation and tax levy ordinance
for the various sources of revenue that finance the
various funds.
Budget Calendar:
The schedule for completion of the various phases in
the preparation and adoption of the annual budget.
Budget Document:
The instrument used by the budget-making authority to
present a comprehensive financial program to the
Board of Trustees and the public.
Budget Message:
The opening section of the budget which provides a
general discussion of the most important aspects of the
budget, accomplishments from previous years and new
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initiatives and challenges facing the District as
presented by the Executive Director to the Board of
Trustees.
Budget Transfers:
Budget transfers shift previously budgeted funds from
one category of expenditure to another.
Budgetary Control:
The control or management of a government or
enterprise in accordance with an approved budget that
keeps expenditures within the limitations of available
appropriations and revenues.
Budgeted Position:
Those positions which have either been budgeted for
and authorized in the past or which are being
requested in the current year's budget.
Business Line:
Classification of an account to distinguish betw een
wastewater and stormwater or unallocated
expenditures.
Bypass:
A pipe, valve, gate, weir, trench or other device
designed to permit all or part of a wastewater flow to
be diverted from usual channels or flow. Sometimes
refers to a special line which carries the flow around a
facility or device that needs maintenance or repair.
CAFR:
Comprehensive Annual Financial Report
Capacity:
The maximum rate of flow that can be carried by sewers or
received by a treatment plant without causing an upset of the
biological material contained in the treatment system.
Capital Charge:
That portion of the total charges for services provided
by the District which is established for debt retirement.
Capital Improvement and Replacement Program:
A plan for capital expenditures to be incurred each
year over a fixed period of years to meet the capital
needs to maintain or replace the sewer infrastructure.
It sets forth each project’s expenditures and specifies
the resources estimated to be available to finance the
projected expenditures.
Capital Improvement Surcharge:
A user charge to finance the construction of seven
wastewater improvement projects required to comply
with federal and state clean water laws. This monthly
surcharge was last charged in April 1995 on customer
bills for March 1995 service.
Capital Project:
A capital project is defined by the creation of a capital
asset. Capital projects for the District often involve
large monetary and time expenditures related to the
construction of infrastructure assets for the collection
and treatment of wastewater or stormwater.
Capital Outlay:
Items purchased utilizing departmental budgeted funds
in the 55000 series of natural accounts for the
purchase of land, buildings, structural improvements,
equipment, vehicles, machinery, furniture, and
computer equipment. Items purchased in this category
generally become capital assets of the District.
Carry-over:
A quantity left over or held for future use. A sum
transferred to a new column, page, book, or business
account.
Cash Basis of Accounting:
Under this basis of accounting, revenues are not
recorded until cash is received; expenditures are
recorded only when cash is disbursed.
Catch Basin:
A chamber or well used with storm or combined sewers
as a means of removing grit which might otherwise
enter and be deposited in sewers.
CCF:
Hundred cubic feet, approximately 750 gallons
Channel:
An improved (paved) watercourse.
Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD):
The quantity of oxygen utilized in the chemical
oxidation of organic and inorganic matter as
determined by Standard Methods and expressed in
milligrams per liter.
CIRP:
Capital Improvement and Replacement Program
Clean Water Act:
Growing public awareness and concern for controlling
water pollution led to enactment of the Federal Water
Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972. As
amended in 1977, this law became commonly known
as the Clean Water Act. The Act established the basic
structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the
waters of the United States. It gave EPA the authority
to implement pollution control programs such as setting
wastewater standards for industry. The Clean Water
Act also continued requirements to set water quality
standards for all contaminants in surface waters. The
Act made it unlawful for any person to discharge any
pollutant from a point source into navigable waters,
unless a permit was obtained under its provisions. It
also funded the construction of sewage treatment
plants under the construction grants program and
recognized the need for planning to address the critical
problems posed by nonpoint source pollution.
Cleanout:
An opening (usually covered or capped) in a
wastewater collection system used for inserting tools,
rods or snakes while cleaning a pipeline or clearing a
stoppage.
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Collection System:
A network of pipes, manholes, cleanouts, traps,
siphons, lift stations and other structures used to
collect all wastewater and wastewater-carried wastes
of an area and transport them to a treatment plant or
disposal system. The collection system includes land,
wastewater lines and appurtenances, pumping stations
and general property.
Combined Sewers:
A sewerage system that carries both sanitary sewage
and stormwater runoff.
Compliance Charge:
Billed to non-residential customers only -- the costs
related to the District's compliance activities for non-
residential properties required to comply with federal
and state environmental regulations.
Conductor:
A pipe which carries a liquid load from one point to
another point. In a wastewater collection system, a
conductor is often a large pipe with no service
connections. Also called a conduit, monitor interceptor
or interconnector.
Conduit:
Any artificial or natural duct, either open or closed, for
conveying fluids from one point to another. An
electrical conduit conveys electricity.
Connection Fees:
One-time fees assessed when properties are
connected to the sewerage system. Effective
November 1, 1994, these fees are uniform throughout
the District and are based on the size of the property's
water tap.
Construction Funds:
Funds established to receive and disburse proceeds
from revenue sources restricted for construction of
improvements to sewerage and drainage collection
systems and treatment facilities.
Contamination:
Introduction into water of any microorganisms,
chemicals, toxic substances, wastes, or wastewater in
a concentration that makes the water unfit for its next
intended use.
Contractual Services:
Expenses and encumbrances charged to the 54000
series of natural accounts. Expenses in this category
usually involve an agreement with a particular vendor
to provide a specific type of work.
Contributed Wastewater Volume:
The quantity of water-borne wastes emanating from
residential property or non-residential property and,
specifically:
1. For metered residential property, billed metered
water usage during the best equated period;
2. For non-residential property, either billed metered
water usage throughout the year with exemption
allowances for any water that does not enter the
sewer system or measured wastewater volume;
and
3. For unmetered residential property, average indoor
water usage characteristics of various housing
attributes, as defined in the rate study, applied to
each user's number of rooms and plumbing
fixtures.
Conveyance System:
A series of sewers, manholes, pumping facilities and
force mains which carry wastewater from residences,
commercial establishments, public buildings,
institutions and industrial plants. It terminates at a
treatment plant.
Cost Center:
An organization that performs a particular function and
separately accounts for expenditures.
Cross Connection:
A connection between a storm drain system and a
sanitary collection system. Less frequently used term
to describe a connection between two sections of a
collection system to handle anticipated overloads of
one system.
C.S.O.:
Combined Sewer Overflows -- discharges from a
combined sewer in excess of the interceptor or
regulator capacity, that are discharged into a receiving
stream rather than going to a treatment plant.
Curb Inlet:
A chamber or well built at the curbline of a street to
admit gutter flow to the storm water drainage system.
Debt:
An obligation resulting from the borrowing of money or
from the purchase of goods and services.
Debt Service Funds:
Funds to provide for the receipt and disbursement of
monies designated for payment of interest and
redemption of outstanding bond issues.
Defeasance:
The process of discharging the lien of an ordinance,
resolution, or indenture relating to a bond issue and, in
the process, rendering inoperative restrictions under
which the issuer has been obliged to operate.
Ordinarily an issuer may defease an indenture
requirement by depositing with a trustee an amount
sufficient to fully pay all amounts under a bond contract
as they become due.
Deliverables:
A list of specifically promised reports, studies and other
items produced under the provision of a contract for
professional services.
Department:
The Department is the primary unit in the District.
Each unit is managed by a Department Director.
Departments are generally composed of divisions
which share a common purpose or which perform
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similar duties.
Depreciation:
The loss in service value, not restored by current
maintenance, which occurs in utility plants in service
due to decay, inadequacy and obsolescence.
Depreciation accounting is usually based on an annual
percentage allowance of plant investment equal to the
original investment spread over the useful life of the
facility.
Detention:
The delay or holding of the flow of water and water-
carried wastes in a pipe system. This can be caused
by a restriction in the pipe, a stoppage or a dip.
Detention also means the time water is held or stored
in a basin or a wet well. Sometimes called retention.
Discharge Permits:
Permit granted by the Missouri Department of Natural
Resources (MDNR) allowing the discharge of effluent
into a body of water. The point source must conform to
specific water quality standards established for the
receiving waters.
District:
Refers to The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District or
MSD. The District is organized pursuant to Article VI,
Section 30 of the Missouri State Constitution that
empowers the people in the City of St. Louis and St.
Louis County “to establish a metropolitan district for
functional administration of services common to the
area”.
DNR:
Department of Natural Resources, a Missouri state
governmental agency responsible for the
administration and enforcement of state water pollution
control policies and laws. The DNR provides state
grant funds to local communities for wastewater
treatment and administers the EPA Construction
Grants Program on behalf of the federal agency.
Drainage Facility:
Any system of artificially constructed drains, including
open channels and separate stormwater sewers used
to convey stormwater, surface water or groundwater,
either continuously or intermittently to natural
watercourses.
Dry Weather Overflows:
Discharges from a sanitary system in dry weather into
a receiving stream rather than a treatment plant,
usually as a result of a blockage or capacity limitation.
Easement:
Legal right to use the property of others for a specific
purpose.
Effluent:
Wastewater or other liquid – raw (untreated), partially
or completely treated – flowing FROM a reservoir,
basin, treatment process, or treatment plant.
Encumbrances:
Obligations incurred in the form of orders, contracts
and similar items that will become payable when goods
are delivered or services rendered.
Engineering Plan Review Fees:
Fees assessed to developers to defray the District’s
costs of the engineering reviews that ensure standards
compliance before construction permits are issued.
EPA:
Environmental Protection Agency, a federal agency
that is responsible for the administration and
enforcement of national water pollution control policies
and laws. The EPA provides federal grant funds to
local governments for wastewater treatment under the
provisions of the EPA Construction Grants Program.
Expenditure:
An amount of money disbursed or obligated. An
expenditure is a decrease in net financial resources.
This includes current operating expenses requiring the
present or future use of current assets.
Fees:
A general term used for any charge levied by
government associated with providing a service.
Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB):
Independent, private, non-governmental authority for
the establishment of ACCOUNTING principles in the
United States.
Fiscal Year:
An annual period used for budgeting and reporting
purposes. For the District, this period is from July 1
through June 30.
Flood Protection Facilities:
A facility that affects the flood conveyance capacity or
flood management behavior of the System, usually
designed to reduce flooding hazards.
Flow:
The volume of effluent expected to enter a treatment
system over a given time period. Treatment systems
are designed based upon estimates of peak and
average flow for different segments of the system.
FTE:
Full-Time Equivalent positions
Fund:
A fiscal and accounting entity with a self-balancing set
of accounts recording cash and other financial
resources, together with all related liabilities and
residual equities or balances, and changes therein,
which are segregated for the purpose of carrying on
specific activities or attaining certain objectives in
accordance with special regulation, restriction, or
limitations.
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Fund Balance:
The equity of a fund. The excess of the assets of a
fund over its liabilities, reserves and carry-over.
Fund Group:
A category of various funds logically grouped on the
basis of the purpose of each fund. At the present time,
the District has the following fund groups:
1. General Fund
2. Revenue Funds
3. Operation, Maintenance and Construction
Improvement (OMCI) Funds
4. Construction Funds
5. Debt Service Funds
6. Special Funds
Note: Descriptions of each fund group are included
in that group’s section of the Budget.
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP):
Uniform minimum standards and guidelines for
financial accounting and reporting. They govern the
form and content of the financial statements of an
entity. GAAP encompass the practice at a particular
time; they include not only broad guidelines of general
application, but also detailed practices and procedures.
GAAP provide a standard by which to measure
financial presentations. The primary authoritative body
on the application of GAAP to state and local
governments is the GASB.
GASB:
Governmental Accounting Standards Board
General Fund:
A fund established by administrative action to finance
the ordinary operations of The Metropolitan St. Louis
Sewer District. The General Fund may be used for any
legally authorized purpose of the District. It is used to
account for all revenues and activities of the District not
provided for in any other fund. It may receive any and
all revenues not specifically designated for other funds.
All wastewater and stormwater user charges
receivable, less allowances for uncollectible accounts,
are recorded in the General Fund.
General Obligation Bonds:
Are used to finance Capital Improvement Projects that
result in community wide benefits. These bonds are
backed by the full faith and credit of the issuer and can
only be issued by governmental units with taxing
authority. Issuance of General Obligation Bonds
requires 67% approval of those voting.
GFOA:
Government Finance Officers Association
Goal:
General statements of public policy, purpose, and
intent.
Grant:
A contribution of assets by one governmental unit to
another unit. The contribution is usually made to aid in
the support of a specified function, such as sewer
construction, pollution control, etc.
Impervious Area:
Areas of the land surface that by man's action become
blocked or sealed from rainfall causing runoff in excess
of the natural rain water runoff of undisturbed land.
Examples are parking lots and rooftops.
Impervious Charge:
A system for assessing fees for stormwater runoff
conveyances and controls, and the operation and
maintenance of same based upon the amount of
impervious area on the rate payer's property.
In-House Contracts:
Planning, design and engineering services provided by
existing District staff in order to accomplish specific
capital projects.
Infiltration:
The seepage of groundwater into a sewer system,
including service connections. Seepage frequently
occurs through defective or cracked pipes, pipe joints,
connections or manhole walls.
Infiltration/Inflow (I/I):
The total quantity of water from both infiltration and
inflow without distinguishing the source.
Inflow:
Water discharged into a sewer system and service
connections from such sources as, but not limited to,
roof leaders, cellars, yard and area drains, foundation
drains, cooling water discharges, drains from springs
and swampy areas, around manhole covers or through
holes in the covers, cross connections from storm and
combined sewer systems, catch basins, storm waters,
surface runoff, street wash waters or drainage. Inflow
differs from infiltration in that it is a direct discharge into
the sewer rather than a leak in the sewer itself.
Influent:
Wastewater or other liquid – raw (untreated) or partially
treated – flowing into a reservoir, basin, treatment
process or treatment plant.
Inlet:
A surface connection to a drain pipe. A chamber for
collecting storm water with no well below the outlet
pipe for collecting grit. Often connected to a catch
basin or a “basin manhole” (“cleanout manhole”) with a
grit chamber.
Intercepting Sewer:
A sewer that receives flow from a number of other
large sewers or outlets and conducts the waters to a
point for treatment or disposal. Often called an
“interceptor”.
Interconnector:
A sewer installed to connect two separate sewers. If
one sewer becomes blocked, wastewater can back up
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and flow through the interconnector to the other sewer.
Lagoon:
A shallow body of water containing partially treated
sewerage in which aerobic stabilization occurs.
Lateral Sewer:
That portion of the sewer lying within a public street or
easement connecting a building sewer service to the
main sewer.
Levy:
The total amount of taxes, special assessments or
service charges imposed by a government.
Liabilities:
Obligations incurred in past or current transactions
requiring present or future settlement.
Lift Station:
A wastewater pumping station that lifts the wastewater
to a higher elevation when continuing the sewer at
reasonable slopes would involve excessive depths of
trench. Also, an installation of pumps that raise
wastewater from areas too low to drain into available
sewers.
Low Income Assistance Credit:
A Low Income Assistance Credit is available to eligible
low income customers of the District who are billed for
and pay a wastewater user charge, capital
improvement surcharge and/or are billed for and pay a
stormwater user charge. The amount of such Low
Income Assistance Credit will be fifty percent (50%) of
the wastewater user charge, capital improvement
surcharge and/or stormwater user charge billed to such
customer for the applicable billing period and will be
shown as a credit on bills of eligible low income
customers which are issued on or after July 1, 1993.
The Low Income Assistance Credit for the capital
improvement surcharge portion will be absorbed by the
wastewater user charge.
Main Sewer:
A sewer line that receives wastewater from many
tributary branches and sewer lines and serves as an
outlet for a large territory or is used to feed an
intercepting sewer.
Management Position:
Any District position which is filled by an administrative,
supervisory or professional employee and certain
positions which are nonbargaining due to the nature of
the duties performed.
Manhole:
An opening in a sewer provided for the purpose of
permitting operators or equipment to enter or leave a
sewer. Sometimes called an “access hole”, or
“maintenance hole”.
Metered Multi-Unit Residential/Non-Residential
Property:
All property connected to an approved water meter
which is:
1. Used only for human residency and consists of
two or more dwelling units connected to a single
approved water meter; or
2. Non-residential property.
Metered Property:
All property connected to an approved water meter
through which the amount of water usage is measured.
Metered Single-Unit Residential Property:
Property used only for human residency, which
consists of a single dwelling unit which is connected to
an approved water meter which serves only such unit.
Mission Statement:
A brief description of the purpose and functions of an
agency, department, etc.
Multi-Unit Residence:
Residential property which consists of a dwelling under
one roof for occupancy by more than one family,
including but not limited to, flats, apartments,
condominiums, and the like.
M/WBE:
Minority and Woman-owned Business Enterprises. A
program to encourage the participation of Minority and
Women's business concerns in the purchase of
professional services and construction work.
Natural Account:
Detailed classification established to budget and
account for the purchase of specific goods and
services and the receipt of revenues from specific
sources.
Natural Account Group:
A grouping of accounts based on the category of
goods or services purchased; for example: Personnel
Services.
Non-Point Pollution:
Pollution which does not enter the water from any
discernible, confined and discrete conveyance (source)
but rather wash off, run off or seep from broad areas of
land.
Non-Residential Property:
Property other than Residential Property.
Normal Wastewater:
Waters or wastes having:
1. A five-day Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)
not greater than 300 milligrams per liter; and
2. Containing not more than 300 milligrams per
liter of Suspended Solids (SS); and
3. Having a Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) not
greater than 600 milligrams per liter.
Objectives:
The yearly organizational goals expected to be
achieved, listed in order of priorities with their
associated costs including estimates of salaries,
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equipment, supplies, etc.
Obligations:
Amounts which a government may be required legally
to meet out of its resources. They include not only
actual liabilities, but also encumbrances not yet paid.
Obstruction:
Any solid object in or protruding into a wastewater flow
in a collection line that prevents a smooth or even
passage of the wastewater.
OM&R:
Operational Maintenance & Repairs
OMCI Funds:
Operation, Maintenance and Construction
Improvement Funds established to account for
proceeds from tax levies in the various subdistricts and
grants in aid of construction. Expenditures are primarily
for stormwater and sanitary sewer improvements.
Ordinance:
A bill, resolution or order by means of which
appropriations are given legal effect. It is the method
by which the appropriation of the annual budget is
enacted into law by the Board of Trustees.
O.R.S.:
The Overflow Regulation System of the District. The
District's O.R.S. is focused on the facilities that evolved
from the former direct discharges of sewage from trunk
sewers into the Mississippi River. The system now
includes the management, operation, maintenance and
improvements to the integrated trunk sewer outfalls,
riverfront interceptors, interceptor pump stations and
flood protection facilities. The goal of the O.R.S. is to
capture the maximum amount of sewage and
wastewaters and convey these to wastewater
treatment plants at Bissell Point and Lemay.
Outfalls:
The point, location or structure where wastewater or
drainage discharges from a sewer, drain, or other
conduit. The conduit leading to the final disposal point
or area.
Outfall Sewer:
A sewer that receives wastewater from a collection
system or from a wastewater treatment plant and
carries it to a point of ultimate or final discharge in the
environment.
Outlet:
Downstream opening or discharge end of a pipe,
culvert, or canal.
Permittee:
An industrial user required to maintain an industrial
waste permit due to the quality or quantity of their
wastewater or point of discharge.
Personnel Services:
Expenditures and encumbrances charged to the 51000
series of natural accounts. This category of expenses
includes items such as salaries, overtime and benefits.
Point Source/Point of Discharge:
Any discernible, confined, and discrete conveyance,
including but not limited to, any pipe, ditch, channel,
tunnel, conduit, well, discrete fissure, container, rolling
stock, concentrated animal feeding operation, vessel,
or other floating craft from which pollutants are or may
be discharged.
Pollutant:
Any substance which, alone or in combination with
other substances, if discharged to waters of the State
in sufficient quantities, causes or is reasonably certain
to cause any alteration of the physical, chemical or
biological properties of such waters; or to create a
nuisance; or to render such waters harmful, detrimental
or injurious to public health, safety or welfare, or to
domestic, industrial, agricultural, recreational, or other
legitimate beneficial uses or to any organism, aquatic
life, plant or animal.
ppm:
Refers to “parts per million”; commonly used to report
the results of laboratory analyses of wastewater
samples.
Preventive Maintenance:
Regularly scheduled servicing of machinery or other
equipment using appropriate tools, tests and
lubricants. This type of maintenance can prolong the
useful life of equipment and machinery and increase its
efficiency by detecting and correcting problems before
they cause a breakdown of the equipment.
Professional Services:
Expenditures for services rendered to the District under
formal contract by "professionals" who have a high
degree of skill and training in technical fields.
Examples are: auditors, management consultants,
lawyers, engineers, etc.
Property:
An improved lot or parcel of real property, whether
public or private, which is served by the System.
Property Tax:
An annual tax on the values of certain types of
personal or business wealth, represented by real or
personal property.
Property Tax Rate:
The amount of tax stated in terms of a unit of the tax
base expressed as dollars per $100 of assessed
valuation.
Proposed Budget:
The recommended budget submitted by the District to
the Board of Trustees.
Pump Station:
Installation of pumps to lift wastewater to a higher
elevation in places where flat land would require
excessively deep sewer trenches. Also used to raise
wastewater from areas too low to drain into available
collection lines. These stations may be equipped with
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air-operated ejectors or centrifugal pumps.
Raw Sewage:
Plant influent or wastewater before any treatment.
Regulator:
A device used in combined sewers to control or
regulate the diversion of flow.
Represented Position (Bargaining Unit):
Any District position, which is filled by an employee
represented by a labor union.
Reserves:
Funds set aside for a specific purpose or use.
Residential Property:
Property used only for human residency.
Resolution:
Resolutions are used to express opinions about a
particular item of business. Unlike ordinances,
resolutions are not laws and are not proposed to the
MSD Board of Trustees prior to adoption. Resolutions
are often used to honor public officials, recognize
retiring employees for their years of service and
acknowledge strategic business plans.
Resources:
The actual assets of a governmental unit, such as
cash, grants receivable, land, buildings, etc. including
estimated revenues applied to the current fiscal year,
and bonds authorized and unissued.
Retention:
That part of the precipitation falling on a drainage area
which does not escape as surface stream flow during a
given period. It is the difference between total
precipitation and total runoff during the period, and
represents evaporation, transpiration, subsurface
leakage, infiltration, and, when short periods are
considered, temporary surface or underground storage
on the area. The delay or holding of the flow of water
and water-carried wastes in a pipe system. This can be
due to a restriction in the pipe, a stoppage or a dip.
Also, the time water is held or stored in a basin or wet
well. This is also called detention.
Revenue:
Income generated by user charges, taxes, investment
income, land rental, connection fees, as well as
Federal, State and local grants.
Revenue Bonds:
Debt used to finance Capital Improvement Projects
serviced from the net revenues from a particular
enterprise, such as sewer service. Issuance of
Revenue Bonds requires 67% approval of those voting.
Revenue Funds:
Funds established to account for proceeds from user
charges and connection and other fees within the
subdistricts to provide for operations and maintenance
within the user charge revenue subdistricts.
Sanitary Sewer System:
The sewer system that caries liquid and wastewater
from residences, commercial buildings, industrial
plants and institutions, together with minor quantities of
ground, storm and surface waters that are not admitted
intentionally.
Sanitary Wet Weather By-passes:
Overflows of sanitary sewage, mixed with stormwater,
to a stream, from the separate sanitary sewer system
in times of wet weather due to the entry of extraneous
water into the System. This occurs when the sewers
become hydraulically overloaded. By-passes are
usually "designed", and are used to prevent back-ups
into basements.
Secondary Waste Treatment:
A wastewater treatment process used to convert
dissolved or suspended materials into a form more
readily separated from the water being treated. Usually
the process follows primary treatment by
sedimentation. The process commonly is a type of
biological treatment process followed by secondary
clarifiers that allow the solids to settle out from the
water being treated.
Separate Sewers:
Sewers that carry only sanitary sewage or stormwater
runoff. The separate sanitary sewers are ultimately
connected to a treatment plant. Separate storm sewers
discharge to streams.
Served:
Property with an active sewer connection, either
directly or indirectly, to a sanitary or drainage facility
owned or operated by the District and laying within the
District, or to property which otherwise discharges
wastewater directly or indirectly into such facilities, or if
the discharges of such substances therefrom ultimately
enter said facilities.
Service Area:
Bonfils Watershed, Coldwater Creek Subdistrict, Fee
Fee Trunk Sewer Subdistrict, Fenton Service Area,
Forest Ridge Service Area, Ellisville Service Area,
Mississippi River Subdistrict, Missouri Bottoms Service
Area, Riverside Service Area, South County Service
Area, Spanish Lake Watershed, Subdistrict No. 150
(Sugar Creek), Terri-Robyn Service Area, Twin Oaks
Service Area, and Valley Sewage Company Service
Area, St. Louis County Sewer Area, Martigney Sewer
Area, and Valley Park Sewer Area, and any property
served by the System.
Service Charge:
All charges imposed for services of the District.
Sewage:
The used water and water-carried solids from homes
that flow in sewers to a wastewater treatment plant.
The preferred term is wastewater.
Sewer:
A pipe or conduit that carries wastewater or drainage
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GLOSSARY
water. The term “collection line” is often used also.
Sewer Main:
A sewer pipe to which building laterals are connected.
Also called a collection main.
Sewerage:
A comprehensive term that includes facilities collecting,
pumping, treating and disposing of wastewater.
Single Unit:
Residential Property used as a dwelling by one family
only.
Sludge:
The solids removed from sewage during wastewater
treatment.
Sludge Management:
The purposeful, systematic control of the generation,
storage, collection, transport, processing and disposal
of sludges.
Special Funds:
Special funds of the District are comprised of the
following:
1. Improvement Fund
2. Water Backup Fund
3. Wastewater Emergency Fund
4. Stormwater Emergency Fund
Standard Methods:
The latest edition of "Standard Methods for the
Examination of Water and Wastewater" as published
jointly by The American Public Health Association, The
American Water Works Association, and The Water
Pollution Control Federation.
Storm Sewer:
A separate pipe, conduit or open channel (sewer) that
carries runoff from storms, surface drainage and street
wash, but does not include domestic and industrial
wastes. Storm sewers are often the recipients of
hazardous or toxic substances due to the illegal
dumping of hazardous wastes or spills created by
accidents involving vehicles and trains transporting
these substances. Also see sanitary sewer system.
Stormwater:
Any water resulting from precipitation that may or may
not be mixed with an accumulation of dirt, soil, and
other debris or substances collected from the surface
on which such precipitation falls or flows.
Stormwater Runoff:
The portion of rainfall, melted snow or irrigation water
that flows across ground surfaces and eventually is
returned to streams. Runoff can pick up pollutants from
the air or land and carry them to the receiving waters.
Stormwater Service Area:
Any area where stormwater facilities have been
dedicated to the District and the District has accepted
dedication of said facilities or the District has adopted a
resolution accepting the responsibility for operation and
maintenance of stormwater facilities.
Stormwater Service Charge:
The user charge to generate the revenue to operate
and maintain the stormwater system.
Subdistrict:
Under or beneath the District, subdivision of the
District.
Supplemental Appropriation:
Where sufficient justification exists, supplemental
appropriations by the Board may occur outside of the
annual budget process. Such appropriations shall
reflect unanticipated emergency requirements subject
to serious time constraints that a normal resource
allocation mechanism, such as the annual budget
process, cannot accommodate.
Surcharge:
The additional charge for the treatment of wastes
containing suspended solids, biochemical oxygen
demand or chemical oxygen demand exceeding
normal wastewater strengths.
Suspended Solids:
Solids that either float on the surface of, or are
suspended in water, wastewater, or other liquids; as
determined by analysis for nonfilterable milligrams per
liter.
System:
The entire sewer and drainage system owned and
operated by the District for the collection, storage,
handling, and treatment of wastewater, for the
collection, storage, handling and treatment of
stormwater, and combined sewers for the collection,
storage, treatment and handling of wastewater and
stormwater to serve the needs of the District and its
inhabitants and others, including all appurtenances and
facilities connected therewith or relating thereto,
together with all extensions, improvements, additions
and enlargements thereto hereafter made or acquired
by the District.
Tax Levy:
The total amount of taxes imposed by a government.
.
Taxes:
Mandatory charge levied by a governmental unit for the
purpose of financing services performed for the
common benefit.
Toxic Pollutants:
Any substance whether gaseous, liquid or solid which,
when discharged to a wastewater system watercourse
in sufficient quantities, interferes with or passes
through any wastewater treatment process, or
constitutes a hazard to human beings, animal life, plant
life, or inhibits aquatic life.
Treatment Plant:
An arrangement of pipes, equipment, devices, tanks
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GLOSSARY
and structures for treating wastewater and industrial
wastes. A water pollution control plant.
Trunk Sewer:
A sewer that receives wastewater from many tributary
branches or sewers and serves a large territory and
contributing population. Also see main sewer.
Unmetered Residential Property:
Property used only for human residency, which is not
Metered Residential Property.
Useful Life:
The expected period of time during which a
depreciating asset will be productive.
User:
The occupant or owner of the Property, the person
holding a permit for water service to the property, or
any person served by the system.
User Charge:
The major charges established by the District;
Wastewater User Charge and Stormwater Service
Charge.
Utilities:
Expense incurred for gas, electric, phone and water at
all District locations.
Volume Charge:
Wastewater charge applied to each customer’s
Contributed Wastewater Volume. It includes both
OM&R and capital costs components.
Waste Activated Sludge:
Sludge that has been aerated and subjected to
bacterial action, used to remove organic matter in raw
sewage during secondary waste treatment.
Waste Permit:
Permit issued to allow, with certain conditions, waste
discharge into the System. This includes discharge of
hauled waste.
Wastewater:
The water-borne wastes emanating from Residential
Property or Non-residential Property, together with
such groundwater, surface water, or stormwater as
cannot be avoided.
Wastewater User Charge:
The costs related to the amount of wastewater
discharged to the sanitary sewer system. Measured in
hundred cubic feet (CCF’s) for customers with water
meters and the number of rooms and indoor plumbing
fixtures for customers without water meters.
Water Backup Program:
The District will review the total cost to a homeowner of
repairs necessary after a sewer backup, provided the
problem is found in a part of the sewer line maintained
by MSD. Insurance coverage has been obtained to
limit the District's total expense.
Water Meter Loan:
An interest-free loan made by the District to the owner
of a residential property not served by a water meter.
The loan may be for an amount up to $300 and will be
repaid over a period not to exceed 20 years. This
program was discontinued in 2004; existing loans
continue to be included in monthly billing.
Water Quality:
The suitability of water for given uses as measured by
the levels of pollutants it contains. Water use
classification includes: public water supply; recreation;
propagation of fish and other aquatic life, agricultural
use and industrial use.
Watercourse:
A natural or artificial channel for the passage of water,
either continuously or intermittently.
Watershed:
A region or area bounded peripherally by water parting
and draining ultimately to a particular watercourse or
body of water.
Working Capital:
Cash, materials and supplies, and other similar current
assets necessary in the operation of the facility.
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ACRONYMS
BOD:
Biochemical Oxygen Demand: the quantity of oxygen
utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter
in five days as determined by Standard Methods and
expressed in milligrams per liter.
CAFR:
Comprehensive Annual Financial Report
CCF:
Hundred cubic feet: approximately 750 gallons.
COD:
Chemical Oxygen Demand: the quantity of oxygen
utilized in the chemical oxidation of organic and
inorganic matter as determined by Standard Methods
and expressed in milligrams per liter.
CIRP:
Capital Improvement and Replacement Program
C.S.O.:
Combined Sewer Overflows: discharges from a
combined sewer in excess of the interceptor or
regulator capacity, that are discharged into a receiving
stream rather than going to a treatment plant.
DNR:
Department of Natural Resources: a Missouri state
government agency responsible for the administration
and enforcement of state water pollution control
policies and laws. The DNR provides state grant funds
to local communities for wastewater treatment and
administers the EPA Construction Grants Program on
behalf of the federal agency.
EEOC:
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: a federal
law enforcement agency that enforces laws against
workplace discrimination.
EPA:
Environmental Protection Agency: a federal agency
that is responsible for the administration and
enforcement of national water pollution control policies
and laws. The EPA provides federal grant funds to
local governments for wastewater treatment under the
provisions of the EPA Construction Grants Program.
FASB:
Financial Accounting Standards Board: independent,
private, non-governmental authority for the
establishment of ACCOUNTING principles in the
United States.
FTE:
Full-Time Equivalent positions
GAAP:
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles: uniform
minimum standards and guidelines for financial
accounting and reporting. They govern the form and
content of the financial statements of an entity. GAAP
encompasses the practice at a particular time; they
include not only broad guidelines of general
application, but also detailed practices and procedures.
GAAP provides a standard by which to measure
financial presentations. The primary authoritative body
on the application of GAAP to state and local
governments is the GASB.
GASB:
Governmental Accounting Standards Board
GFOA:
Government Finance Officers Association
I/I:
Infiltration/Inflow: the total quantity of water from both
infiltration and inflow with no distinction of the source.
MGD:
Million gallons per day: standard measure of
wastewater flow through treatment plants.
MWBE:
Minority and Woman-owned Business Enterprises: a
program to encourage the participation of Minority and
Women's business concerns in the purchase of
professional services and construction work.
OM&R:
Operational Maintenance & Repairs
O.R.S.:
Overflow Regulation System: the District's O.R.S. is
focused on the facilities that evolved from the former
direct discharges of sewage from trunk sewers into the
Mississippi River. The system now includes the
management, operation, maintenance and
improvements to the integrated trunk sewer outfalls,
riverfront interceptors, interceptor pump stations and
flood protection facilities. The goal of the O.R.S. is to
capture the maximum amount of sewage and
wastewaters and convey these to wastewater
treatment plants at Bissell Point and Lemay.
ppm:
Parts per million: commonly used to report the results
of laboratory analysis of wastewater samples.
SRF:
State Revolving Fund: bonds or other obligations
issued in accordance with the District’s participation in
the Missouri State Revolving Fund Program of the
Missouri Department of Natural Resources and the
State Environmental Improvement and Energy
Resources Authority, which SRF Bonds may be Senior
SRF Bonds or Subordinate SRF Bonds.
WWTP:
Wastewater Treatment Plant
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