Water bond vote deserves support

After reading Mr. Dickson’s letter in a recent issue of the Bee, I thought it prudent to offer some clarification about water and sewer services in Sandpoint.

Both the water and sewer departments are run as enterprise funds; that basically means they are run as separate businesses. Although their operations are included in the annual city budget, they do not receive city tax dollars. The monies that come in for sewer and water services are from our monthly water and sewer bills; that is the revenue source that pays for the operation and maintenance of our city water and sewer services.

When I was quoted in the Bee recently as saying the purchase of the land for a sewer treatment plant was from a “different pot” of money, I inadvertently caused some confusion. The “pot” is not a different tax revenue “pot”; it is in fact a fund made from the New User Facility Funds that are collected each time there is a new sewer or water hook-up. The amount of the NUFF is of course determined by the size of the hook-up.  The important part to remember is that those NUFF funds cannot be used for maintenance and operation; they are only able to be used for capital improvements - the purchase of the property for a new sewer treatment plant being one of those capital projects.  There is no opportunity to refund tax dollars because tax dollars are not involved.

I would also like to take this opportunity to encourage you to vote on Nov. 3 at Sandpoint City Hall if you are a city resident. I plan to vote in favor of the Water Bond Election because I think we have a terrific opportunity to reduce the cost of an upgraded lake water treatment plan by availing ourselves of grant money from the USDA; if we don’t pass the bond, we are not eligible to this money. The $5 million from the USDA will reduce a $17 million project to $12 million — a considerable savings that we as ratepayers will not be obligated to repay.

You might ask, then why aren’t we just proposing a bond for $12 million? Wish we could — but we are obliged to ask for the full value of the project.

If I can answer any other questions, please feel free to contact me at 263-1277 or carrielogan@mval.net

CARRIE LOGAN

Sandpoint

City Council