Utility Taxes, Water Rights, Terrorism All Being Worked by Legislature

February 2002

The cutoff for bills out of committee in the house of origin has passed. At cutoff bills that have not had a public hearing and been voted on by the policy committee usually are considered “dead” for the session. There appears that there will be a large number of “dead” bills this session.

Transportation, education, and the budget shortfall are the main issues being worked on by legislators. Issues that are divisive or complex are not going to get much attention. One because of limited time, and second because the leadership does not want members in fights over bills they just don’t think they need to act on this session. If an issue can wait, then let it wait until next session.

WASWD along with representatives of other municipal and private water utilities have been engaged with legislators and the administration for over 5 years now in an attempt to amend the state’s water code. After the Governor successfully passed his “tools” water bill last session he and many in the legislature promised water purveyors that they would get their needs met in the 2002 session.

Well, like many political promises, it probably isn’t going to happen. Legislators, environmentalists, agency staff, tribes and others have convinced themselves and each other that municipal water purveyors are the reason steams are not full of water. Utilities use water, waste water, and care little about protecting our state’s fish and environmental resources.

We all know that is about as far from the truth that they can get, but that is the common perception. That perception must be corrected if we hope to ever have meaningful changes to the water code.

In the meantime, utilities have attempted to respond to requests from legislators to find meaningful contributions they can make to the “water problem.” The response from most utilities has been to offer increased conservation requirements and efficiency standards as a trade for increased flexibility and certainty in regard to existing water rights. Now as the legislature is coming down to the wire to produce a water bill that does what the Governor and others promised last year everything appears to be falling apart. Those concerned about fish and the environment do not want utilities to have any changes until all instream flows are set and met. We have been clear to point out that until we get the components of growing communities there will be little we can do to provide for instream flow.

Another key part of a water bill from the Governor’s perspective is funding for water & fish related needs. He proposes a $1 billion bond issue to fund, storage, instream flow setting, habitat restoration, upgrades to public water supply systems, improvements to irrigation districts and a few other needs. The sticking point is how to pay back the bond. The most current proposal is to have municipal water suppliers pay 40% of the cost and electrical utilities pay 60%. This translates into a first year $ .50 per month/per customer charge, a 2nd year $1.00 per month/per customer and finally in the 3rd year a $1.50 per month/per customer charge for the balance of the 20 or 25 year repayment period of the bond. As described later in this article there are other taxes and fees being proposed in the legislature to fund a variety of state and local government needs. The ultimate cost of water service from fees and taxes added to new requirements for certified operators, arsenic removal, and who knows what else could be very high. And remember, the legislature is also making block rates a key component of water conservation.

Therefore, it is becoming more doubtful that a reasonable water bill will move and more likely that some legislation enforcing additional burdens on water utilities will try to move. Prior to the beginning of the session special districts discussed what they absolutely had to have in water code changes and the conclusion was leaving things as they are is better than something that makes our job more difficult. So, no bill is better than a bad bill and all bad bills must be stopped.

Utility taxes, another really bad idea. Counties are really hurting. From King County to most rural counties the criminal justice system is consuming more than 60% -70% of the counties budgets. Urban counties that have seen large numbers of incorporations over the past 10-20 years have little tax base left with which to fund their required programs. Counties need money but have nowhere to raise it, enter King County and its idea to impose a 1% utility tax on all public and private utilities, including special districts, cities and towns. Their bill also provides that the council can put an additional 2% utility tax to a vote of the residents of the county. This utility tax would be on top of existing utility taxes imposed by cities. At first it appeared that the counties were alone in proposing this tax but Seattle has joined in support and is working to get other cities to join in their position. Whether they will be successful is yet to be determined but the battle is a grand one indeed.

If your district opposes the utility tax a call to those Senators and Representatives that represent your district would be in order. Some districts have passed resolutions opposing the tax and then informed legislators about their position.

Terrorism is the other major issue that is generating a lot of legislative action. Most efforts have been to increase the penalties for terrorism and to include more actions in the definition of terrorism. The bigger potential impact on districts regarding terrorism may come from the U.S. Congress which is working in conference committee on major bills from the House and Senate. The House version would place significant and costly requirements on terrorism assessments and prevention for water utilities serving populations of 3300 or more. We will keep everyone posted as this develops. A major workshop is planned at the Annual Spring Conference to address whatever comes out of this national legislation.

And finally, the Government Relations Committee has elected to move the monthly Government Relations Committee meetings to Olympia for the duration of the session. This makes it easier for lobbyists to attend the meetings and for committee members to go to the Hill and work issues with their legislators. See the committee schedule on page 2 for more details.

Ginger Desy Appointed to Board of Directors

Ginger Desy, Commissioner, Cross Valley Water District was appointed to fill the position on the Board previously held by Commissioner Joyce Clark of Bryn Mawr-Lakeridge Water & Sewer District. Joyce lost her reelection bid for her Commissioner seat at Bryn Mawr in the November election.

The bylaws provide for the Board of Directors to select and appoint a replacement to serve until the next Annual Membership Meeting which will be this September at the Fall Conference in Spokane.

Ginger has served the past year as the At-Large member of the Executive Committee. With her appointment to the Board, President Lynne Danielson asked Commissioner Steve Stevlingson of Sammamish Plateau Water & Sewer District to serve as the Bylaws directed At-Large Member Representative on the Executive Committee.

Ginger will have to run for the balance of the combined district seat on the Board this fall. Since this position expires in September 2003 the person occupying the seat after this September will have to run for a regular term next year as well. This falls election will be for the 4 Section-At-Large seats. Since these positions are geographical based a commissioner from any type of district may run. Only one At-Large-Director seat is open this fall due to term limitations. Commissioner, Association past President and Section I Director Frank L. Boyle will be retiring from the Board after serving since the creation of the Association. Frank is the longest serving member of the Board.

This falls election will be for the 4 Section-At-Large seats. Since these positions are geographical based a commissioner from any type of district may run. Only one At-Large-Director seat is open this fall due to term limitations. Commissioner, Association past President and Section I Director Frank L. Boyle will be retiring from the Board after serving since the creation of the Association. Frank is the longest serving member of the Board.

WASWD Members Attend Water Resources Conf.

The Washington Association of Sewer and Water Districts was strongly represented by a number of commissioners, managers, and Associate Members at the recent AWWA/WEF joint Water Resources Conference in Las Vegas. This first ever joint conference was a combination of 3 previous stand alone conferences held by the two organizations. Combining water reuse, conservation, and water resource management into one conference was very successful. Over 1,000 attendees from around the world participated in 4 days of workshops and tours on water reuse, management, and conservation.

Several of us toured newly constructed wastewater reuse plants created to generate water for irrigation of golf and park turf. These projects are jointly funded, constructed and managed by the City of Las Vegas Wastewater Division and the Las Vegas Valley Water District. The City operates the wastewater treatment facility and the District operates the distribution system and coordinates with the end users.

A number of new ideas applicable to our Washington water needs were discussed.

President’s Corner

The January meeting of the Board of Directors produced several exciting items.

First I would like to thank Northshore Utility District for providing us the meeting room, Dan Olson, General Manager, Commissioners Don Ellis, Margaret Wiggins, Bruce Gardiner, Trudy Rolla and Kinnon Williams. Due to 2001 election results, the Board lost one of its directors. Joyce Clark lost her bid for reelection and I would like to take this opportunity to wish Joyce the best. She will be missed on the Board.

We had two very qualified candidates nominated for the position, Ginger Desy, Commissioner at Cross Valley Water District, and Steve Stevlingson, Commissioner at Sammamish Plateau Water and Sewer District. Both candidates presented a short campaign speech to those present.

I would like to congratulate Ginger Desy for being selected for appointment by the Board of Directors. Commissioner Stevlingson has graciously agreed to fill Commissioner Desy’s position on the Executive Committee. Registration forms have been sent out or you can locate information on our web site.

Registration forms have been sent out or you can locate information on our web site.The Board also had an in-depth discussion regarding participation at the Board of Directors regular meetings by conference call. It was decided, by consensus, that participation in regular board meetings will be allowed on a limited basis. The Association has purchased a new conference calling system that will allow us to accomplish this. All of us understand that we all lead busy lives and this opportunity allows members of the Board of Directors to represent our members even when we can’t attend the meeting. Look for a by-law change that will give us further direction in this area.

In November of last year, the Board of Directors and staff participated in a retreat. During the retreat there were several areas that emerged as areas where further clarification of goals and procedures was needed. The Board has been tasked with addressing one of these issues at each meeting so that we can put into practice information gleaned from the retreat. The first area of discussion was the roles of committees, sections and Board of Directors in the Association. It has long been my goal to increase participation at the committee/section level thereby giving a greater number of our members a voice in the Association. It was the consensus of the Board of Directors that committees and sections are the groups who will present new ideas, evaluate alternatives, and offer recommendations to the Board. The Board is tasked with oversight of the committees and sections. This concept places the preliminary decision making responsibility at the level where the “experts” can participate. I urge each of our members to look carefully at the standing and ad hoc committees and support participation in the appropriate committee.

WASWD Symposium on District Financing to Be Held in April

A prime reason for the combination of the Conference Planning Committee and the Education Committee last fall was to create a committee that could better match the issue or topic to the type of venue or forum. The first outcome of this new type of committee operation is a Symposium to be held on Friday, April 5, 2002 at the Inn At The Summit, Snoquamie Pass.

This symposium is an expansion of a workshop presented at last Fall’s Conference by Dave Findlay, President, Financial Consulting Solutions Group. The sysmposium will cover prudent and wise district financing practices including rate setting, allocation of costs, fiduciary responsibilities of mangers and commissioners, planning and reserve funds.

Registration forms have been sent out or you can locate information on our web site.

February 2002 PIPELINE articles- Washington Association of Sewer & Water Districts