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Earnings of Municipally Owned Utilities in Wisconsin
Author(s) -
Deuel Orville P.
Publication year - 1960
Publication title -
journal ‐ american water works association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.466
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1551-8833
pISSN - 0003-150X
DOI - 10.1002/j.1551-8833.1960.tb00479.x
Subject(s) - dividend , debt , business , finance , earnings , revenue , equity (law) , debt service coverage ratio , financial system , external debt , political science , law
Dividends of municipally owned utilities must be paid in accordance with the statutes. The requirements for debt service will reduce the amount available to the general fund, as will new construction. A municipality owning a utility should determine a course to be followed and then balance the capital required for plant investment with funds available for all purposes. If a steady dividend policy is maintained, the utility will probably resort to borrowing in a relatively short time. The fact that some municipally owned utilities were acquired or constructed with borrowed funds and have little or no municipal equity, probably accounts for the fact that dividend payments are relatively few and do not constitute a high percentage of net revenues.