New groundwater fees could extend to Valley
Published 3:18 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008
NORTH BEND _ Residents of unincorporated east King
County could face the new year with the prospect of paying a new fee for
groundwater abatement programs.
In a public meeting held at the North Bend Depot on Tuesday
night, Nov. 9, representatives from the King County Department of Natural
Resources talked to a sparse crowd about the new program. Titled the
King County Executive Rural Drainage and Water Quality Proposal, the
program would require all homeowners, business owners and commercial
establishments to pay a fee toward groundwater control efforts in this part of
the county.
Perhaps appropriately, the meeting took place under a steady, driving
rain that dumped volumes of runoff water into swollen local rivers and creeks.
The executive’s proposal is an outgrowth of the county’s existing
Surface Water Management program, established in 1986. If approved by
the county council, the program will extend coverage, technical support,
enforcement activities and fees into the Snoqualmie Valley as well as
the Enumclaw area and Vashon/Maury Islands.
According to John Koon, who presented most of the briefing, the
program will not impact incorporated communities, as they have their
own programs already in place.
“Work on extending the program started about February,” he
commented Friday, “and there are a couple reasons for its timing, primarily
the increasing demand for services and increasing development.
“The most important thing is for people to understand the sensitivity
of their water resources, and the regulatory requirements.”
If approved, the program will put in place an organized hierarchy to
reduce runoff pollution from parking lots, barnyards, homes and
businesses. It’s also designed to support King County’s growth management
objectives, while ensuring compliance with federal, state and local pollution
and water quality regulations.
The executive proposed a $3.1 million fee base to pay for the
program, of which approximately 21 percent _ or roughly $637,000 _ will
go to administrative costs. To raise the money, homeowners will pay a flat
fee of $7.08 per month or $85.02 per year. Commercial sites will be charged
by the acre, depending on their percentage of impervious services such
as roofs, paved roads/driveways, packed gravel surfaces and concrete
pads. Parcels rated as “very heavy” _
with 85 or more percent of impervious coverage _ could be taxed to the tune
of $1,317 per year, per acre.
The program will offer discounts and exemptions for senior citizen,
disabled or low-income homeowners as well as open space discounts for
commercial properties that are covered by fields, agricultural use or forests.
Koon and other staff members stressed there would be
accountability for the monies expended through the program. The senior member
of roughly 13 new staff positions will be the Rural Drainage Coordinator,
described as the community’s “advocate” for the program. They
will handle groundwater complaints, direct technical assistance activities _
including well testing _ and hold yearly community public meetings on the
program.
However, the few attendees were not sure about the proceedings;
some commented on what they perceived was another level of county
government, while others complained their tax dollars were already going to
Seattle, with nothing in return to show for it.
Another member of the audience said he’d read in a major
newspaper that the existing program had millions of dollars in unspent funds and
asked why Valley residents should have to pay. Joanna Richey, DNR
section manager, replied, “I guess that
proves you can’t believe everything you see in print.”
“Aren’t we responsible for monitoring our own well?” queried
Boots Fischer of North Bend. “I don’t think we need the government billing us
to monitor our well.
“We’re already required by the Department of Health to monitor
our wells. Everybody’s duplicating what everyone else is doing, and we’re
going to pay for it?”
The staff responded that groundwater monitoring of wells would
only take place in the new Vashon Island district, at the express request of
the residents.
“We don’t have any problem with paying our taxes, but we want
services in return,” Fischer later commented. “What we see here is another layer
of government.”
“If people knew what they could expect, what they could plan on
and what specific problems would be solved, I don’t think you’d find
problems with another fee,” commented John Glazier, also of North Bend.
The public hearings will continue at other locations throughout
the county, leading up to a decision by the county council before the end of
the year. If the council doesn’t fund the program this year, it could
conceivably require a public vote next year under I-695.
“Then again, it might be submitted in tandem with a regional
program,” he concluded. “That hasn’t been determined yet.”
