Streetlight costs keep smaller towns in the dark

Area leaders hoping Legislature can intercede in their favor

COLUMBIA BASIN — The cost of paying for streetlights has become a source of worry for small towns, many of which are dipping into their depleted general funds to pay for them.

It is not necessarily how much it costs that is a concern to these towns as much as it is the way payments have to take place.

The Grant County Public Utility District bills each city for streetlights. The way it used to be, the cities would take that bill's amount, divide it by the number of utility accounts or customers. Then, they would attach the resulting amount to the utility bill sent to each customer. Those attached monies put together into an account would then serve to pay the PUD.

However, during a court case, Seattle V. Okeson, the state's supreme court ruled that cities cannot charge if it cannot show a direct benefit.

"You cannot charge electric utilities on the water and sewer bill," Coulee City Mayor Otto Jensen explained. "They had to stop charging out of the water and sewer bill and we had to start paying from the general fund."

That is the same general fund that has been severely affected by anti-tax initiatives and a statewide economic downturn in revenues. Hence the concern of Jensen and other city leaders.

Right now, Jensen said his town is paying close to $1,700 on streetlights out of its general fund per month. Money that would go a long way to hire a second police officer his city "desperately needs."

In Ephrata, another one of the cities affected, the amount comes close to $140,000 per year, money that has also had to come out of the general fund.

"I believe street maintenance has begun to suffer because of this," Ephrata city administrator Wes Crago said.

To make matters more confusing, Jensen said, cities are hearing two versions of the issue. Some say it is legal for the PUD to charge the residents instead of the cities for streetlight cost. Some others say it's not legal.

"We keep getting mixed messages," said Kathy Bohnet, mayor of Wilson Creek, also affected by this measure.

Jensen said a letter to state Sen. Linda Evans Parlette has been drafted to ask her to find an answer to this issue.

Crago was not optimistic. "We don't expect it to be a fix to this. It puts a legislator to be pro-utility fees, which is not very popular. City government is an easy thing to lambaste."

The problem becomes worse as the cities continue to feel the effect of anti-tax initiatives such as I-695. With property tax growth stuck at 1 percent due to these initiatives and with the motor vehicle excise tax greatly diminished, cities just do not have the money sometimes to pay the PUD and take care of other projects.

"The street budget is one of the few places we have had room to maneuver," Crago said.