RateWorks builds your model from documents you already have. This is the list, whichever way you start. Most cities gather it in an afternoon; the finance office has nearly all of it.
Set it up yourselfStart with the audits and the budget; add the rest as you reach each page. The portal tells you what each step needs.
AMKO builds your modelSend everything in the first two groups at once; we build from the full set and tie the model to your audit before handing it over.
One-time rate studySame as the build. The study also needs a contact who can answer questions about the billing system and the council's timing.
Always
The last three audits. The full annual financial report, not the summary. Three years gives the model a trend; one year is enough to start.
The current adopted budget, and next year's if the council has adopted it. The whole budget book: the utility pages carry the account lines the Budget Builder uses.
The rate ordinance or resolution for each utility, as currently in force, with the date it took effect.
Every loan, bond and note the utilities pay, with the lender's payment schedule. The schedule matters more than the agreement: it is what the model reads for principal and interest by year.
Your fiscal year end and the month rates usually change.
By utility
Water and sewer: a usage or production report for the year (gallons pumped, gallons billed), and accounts by customer class and meter size from the billing system.
Electric: twelve months of the billing register's summary pages (service category totals, rate code totals and the general ledger distribution), twelve months of wholesale power bills, and any negotiated or contract rate with a large customer.
Garbage: the hauler contract, with its escalator and term, and the city's own billing and administration cost if the city bills it.
Helpful, not required
The capital improvement plan, or a list of planned projects with rough costs, years and how each would be paid.
Any prior rate or cost-of-service study, however old.
The streetlight inventory and a list of unmetered city buildings, for electric.
Interfund transfers: what each transfer in or out of a utility fund is for.
Who to call with questions about the billing system, and who answers for the council on timing.
How to send it
PDFs with selectable text read best; scanned pages work but take longer. Excel and CSV exports from the billing or accounting system are welcome. If you are setting up yourself, drop the files on the Documents page of the portal. If AMKO is building the model, reply to your access email with the files attached, or ask us for a shared folder. Do not send pages that carry passwords or account logins; the model never needs them.
The portal reads your documents with an AI reader and shows you every figure with its page before it enters the model. The pages are not stored on the RateWorks server, are not used to train anything, and are deleted at the reader's service within 30 days. Terms of use.