Royal City PUD candidate discusses finances
GUEST EDITORIAL
ROYAL CITY — You may have recently read headlines that the Grant County PUD is in a budget crisis and is attempting to come up with solutions including a rate increase.
Their budget problems did not occur overnight. They are the result of a consistent failure to manage spending.
Several years ago I was in attendance at a PUD meeting when Don Godard, the previous manager, stated that if things did not change we would probably never need another rate increase.
The first step in recognizing that there is a problem is to admit that you have one. This has to be done so that steps can be taken to make corrective actions.
It’s time that the PUD operated more like a business and less like a government entity with unlimited resources. Even the federal government is in trouble and looking for additional taxes. For the PUD the solution appears to be to increase our rates.
A business cuts its spending if it doesn’t have money and now is the time for our PUD to do the same. Being fiscally conservative is a wonderful thing, but you have to cut excess spending. I have been told that because the PUD is a government agency it is not required to do a cost benefit analysis, this should change.
During many commission meetings I have heard that it is a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) requirement to undertake certain major purchases or projects. An example of this is Getty’s Cove.
The PUD was not mandated by FERC to buy this property. The Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife wanted the PUD to buy it, and they did, to the tune of $1.3 million. Now they have the entire cost of restoring and maintaining it for public use. Similar to Crescent Bar where the long term costs of restoring and managing that huge tract of land for public use will cost millions.
The role of commissioners should not be to run the day-to-day operations of the PUD but to make policy that is clear, concise and measurable. Accountability and transparency is paramount to our PUD’s long-term success. As citizens we must demand that our public utility demonstrates a commitment to fiscally conservative policies that are sustainable. The current spending model is not.
I believe that millions of dollars can be saved at the PUD, debt can be reduced and we can improve our bond rating, while keeping rates low.
If I am elected commissioner of the Grant County PUD my promise to the ratepayers is simple: before the commission implements rate increases, we will do everything possible to find savings within the PUD.