Lakewood residents not getting anything for the franchise fee they pay

I have read with great interest the debate between state Sen. Mike Carrell (Viewpoint, 1-26) and Lakewood Deputy City Manager Don Anderson (Viewpoint, 1-27) regarding the provision of sewer service to the Tillicum/American Lake Gardens area of the city.

The franchise fee that has been imposed by Lakewood on its own citizens is nothing new. When Lakewood incorporated, it tried to do the very same thing and actually took Pierce County to court and lost.

The primary reason for sewer extension to the Tillicum/American Lake Gardens area in my opinion is economic development. This is an area that is prime land for new economic development with its freeway access and many undeveloped or underdeveloped properties.

If I were a city resident, I would ask why I am paying a surcharge to provide sewer services to an area of the city whose property owners rejected the sewer extension when it was initially included in Pierce County’s ULID 73-1. This area rejected sewers because of the costs at that time.

Now, as far as paying a franchise fee is concerned, the city is requiring the county to pay a franchise fee that is effectively passed on to Lakewood ratepayers.

So what are Lakewood citizens getting for their money? Are they getting a higher level of treatment, repairs to the existing sewer system or something else of value for the fee? I might agree with Carrell that those monies should be targeted to paying down the debt on the sewer system that the city obligated its citizens to pay for.

Having worked for the Pierce County Sewer Utility for more than 25 years, I can say that the sewer utility absorbed all costs associated with relocation/reconstruction of the public sewer system during my tenure. So just having the county sewer system in Lakewood’s streets is not a financial obligation to its residents.

Lakewood residents who are connected to the Pierce County sewer system are also sewer utility ratepayers, and a portion of their bimonthly sewer bills is dedicated to maintenance of the sewer system; the remaining portion is for operations. The maintenance portion is dedicated to pay for long-term maintenance of the sewer system throughout the county’s system, and previously the county hadn’t gone back to the any of the cities on the system to pay for any repairs.

Lakewood leaders initially thought that Tillicum/American Lake Gardens residents would voluntarily connect to the sewer system once it was available. However, the City Council had to impose a mandatory connection to the sewer system to get more customers to not only help pay for the system, but to also generate enough sewage flow to operate it. The City Council had no other option but to impose the mandatory connection, and it was a tough decision during these tight budget times.

I think what is important for Lakewood residents to understand is that the city imposed a franchise fee on the Pierce County Sewer Utility and that fee was apportioned to each and every Lakewood sewer utility ratepayer. Once the fee is collected by the county, it in turn pays it to the city. So it doesn’t matter if you call it a franchise fee or a tax, city residents are paying more money for no increase in service or treatment.

Anderson stated that Lakewood sewer charges are less than other cities charge, but it really doesn’t matter; other cities’ charges are based on their sewer system costs, which are not related to Lakewood’s sewer system costs. And none of the other cities are paying a franchise fee. That is, not yet.

Anderson also states, “Additional restrictions and unfunded mandates from the Legislature only serve to interfere with sound local management and social issues.” Is it “sound local management” for a city to impose a fee/tax where no benefit is obtained other than to provide another source of funding for the general fund?

Robin Ordonez of Puyallup is an engineer who recently retired from the Pierce County Sewer Utility as assistant wastewater utility manager. Previous to that he was the manager of engineering and supervisor of engineering. He was responsible for the management of the capital improvement program, utility improvement districts, comprehensive sewer planning, engineering, permitting and construction inspection.