Sen. Chase's bill to allow vote on city assumption of water / sewer district passes Senate
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
A bill to ensure that voters in a water or sewer district retain ultimate control over whether a city or town can assume jurisdiction of their district has passed the Senate and awaits action in the House of Representatives.
“These special-purpose districts are created by a vote of the people, for the people. As such, 100 percent of the taxes we pay for our water and sewer systems should be dedicated to providing the services and maintaining the system,” said Sen. Maralyn Chase, D-Shoreline and the sponsor of Senate Bill 5048. “These funds should not be diverted, or ‘repurposed’ for other uses such as new developments or other non-water-sewer projects unless the voters approve.”
SB 5048 would let voters call for a referendum on any attempt by a city or town to assume jurisdiction of all or part of a water or sewer district.
As with other special-service districts such as fire districts or school districts, rate payer revenue must be spent solely for the purposes of the special service districts. However, if a city assumes ownership of a water or sewer district, the city may levy taxes without limits, without restrictions on what the funds are used for, and without a vote of the citizens who voted to create the district. Water and sewer districts are the only special service districts that do not have a cap on the taxes that can be levied if these districts are assumed by a municipality.
“Across the state, in the wake of the Great Recession, municipalities are struggling to make ends meet — and are assuming control of water and sewer districts to increase their revenue flow for other programs and projects,” Chase said. “That’s not why people vote to create a water or sewer district. People want a reliable water and sewer system — not a funding mechanism outside of their control for projects they don’t approve.”
Utility taxes are among the most regressive taxes levied on citizens, Chase noted. Water and sewer are basic necessities and low-income rate payers have no choice in accepting or refusing service or paying the ever-increasing taxes. For example, low-income working families pay 17 percent of their income in taxes compared to wealthy families who pay only 2.8 percent.
“This bill will ensure that the democratic process can work the way it was meant to work,” Chase said. “If it’s truly in the public’s best interest for a city to assume a water or sewer district, then the city rulers should have nothing to fear from a vote by the people who would be paying the tax.”
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3 comments:
Senator Chase is right, when a city provides the water and sewer service just about anything can pop up on their budget such as a new phone system for the whole city hall. And maintenance is more about paint on old equipment than upgrades. Instead of 5 people on the board with only the utility work to discuss, the cities have their utility work done by staff and left for a quick rubber stamp by the council.
I hope this bill can help the people of Shoreline get their sewer district back before the city can start jacking up the cost for the service. The county already does that for all sorts of regulatory reasons coming down from the EPA.
NUD commissioner from Kenmore
This is a very important bill and I appreciate Sen Chase's determination in seeing this bill through to passage! It is an outstandingly democratic (small d) outcome that will benefit ratepayers. Unfortunately, the efforts in Shoreline to takeover the Ronald District have gone too far down the road. The current commission has been "carrying water" for City staff and their desire to use the District as a cash cow.
Why is Sen. Chase going on about "taxes" as it pertains to utilities? Does she really conflate utility bills with taxation, or is it just lazy prose?
Clearly Sen. Chase has bought hook, line, and sinker the load of dog doots that assumes all cities have nefarious purposes for managing utilities, as she is clearly being groomed by only one side of the issue. It is insulting to the intelligence of the voters to bag on city government and uphold special purpose districts as bastions of frugal stewardship of the public's money. If the average person paid even a little bit of attention to the actual goings-on of these districts, which operate unfettered due to lack of interest by the voters they serve, they would be shocked.
But go ahead and eat the "district good, city bad" pablum if you desire. To be really circumspect, however, I suggest you look at your utility bills, and compare them to those of a few years ago.
What's that, you really don't know how special purpose districts spend their money? You haven't ever once taken an interest in their budgets? Well, just listen to Sen. Chase yammer about "taxes," that's all you need to know.
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