Letter to the Editor: SPU Water System Acquisition is a Radical Plan and Gamble

To the editor:

City Hall's plan to acquire the water utility is the basis for Proposition 1, which will be submitted to the voters for approval this November.  It is a radical plan, one that has never been attempted before in Washington state, that places the ratepayers in Shoreline at risk. It is a gamble and a blank check for the voters of Shoreline.

Proposition 1, if approved, would allow City Hall to borrow at least $26.8 million to purchase the water system from Seattle Public Utility (SPU).  Shoreline does not control the cost of that sale. The price will be set by the Seattle City Council.  Would you buy something without knowing the cost?  (To hear Seattle’s view of the purchase cost, go to (http://www.seattlechannel.org/videos/video.asp?ID=2011260 and start at the 5 minute mark.)

If this proposal is accepted, Seattle will agree to a $2.1 million dollar reduction in annual revenues: unlikely.

The current water system has served Shoreline and 1 million other customers for over 70 years.  After disconnecting at 145th Street as planned, all water resources at Bitterlake Reservoir and the pump stations throughout the north end of King County will be lost as resources, and will have to be replicated inside Shoreline. 

City Hall proposes to borrow an additional $14.2 million (this figure could understate actual costs by as much as 50%) for water storage tanks, remodeled pump stations, a new pipeline running under 145th street from Greenwood to the east side of I-5, new employees, new heavy equipment and a new storage yard.  All of the above will be needed. Large new meters measuring water flow between Seattle and Shoreline will be needed; paid for by Shoreline’s ratepayers. All of these costs will become part of your water bill.

The southeast corner of the city (Briarcrest), has been left out of this process. Eventually, this section will be included and add undetermined additional costs.

City Hall will tax the water utility and add that tax to your water bill. Utility taxes are unlimited by state law can be  raised by a simple majority vote of the Shoreline City Council, with no opportunity for voters to say “Yes” or “No”.  This tax would go into the General Fund, and can be spent on anything City Council chooses.

Citizen control is different from City Of Shoreline control. Ultimately, citizens should control costs and services as directly as possible by electing utility commissioners who focus on only one issue.

Shoreline Water District (SWD) and Ronald Wastewater District (RWD) will disappear and become a part of City Hall’s utility department. Combined, SWD and RWD have over 100 years of combined utility experience. City Hall has zero. By allowing a merger of our utility districts, the citizens of Shoreline would receive the best service at the best cost and Public Utilities cannot charge utility taxes. City Hall would receive a franchise fee from the utility, as it does now, for allowing the utility to operate. That money goes into the general fund.

John Behrens

Chairman of the Prop. 1 Con Committee and former member of the Shoreline Planning Commission