Board of Health drops plan to set annual septic system fee

Published 4:49 pm Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Valley residents attending a public meeting with Public Health – Seattle & King County last week were jubilant when the board dropped its proposal to implement an annual fee on septic systems in King County, and they weren’t the only ones.

“It was a wonderful, wonderful opportunity for people to be heard, and to really express what they want from local government,” said King County Councilwoman Kathy Lambert, who helped to organize and publicize the meeting. The Fall City meeting was the fourth and final meeting before a board vote on the fee.

Lambert estimated that about 700 people came to the June 28 meeting at Snoqualmie Valley Alliance Church in Fall City. The meeting had originally been scheduled for the Fall City Fire Station, but was moved to a larger venue.

After the main seating area, with a capacity of about 450 people was full, Lambert said, “We put people in the nursery, we had people in the foyer, we turned on the sound system so people could hear outside.”

The people could also speak, and many did so, raising objections to the proposal and suggesting alternatives.

“I was so proud of how they’d done so much research and found things in the code,” said Lambert.

The proposal put forth by the board of health was intended to create a stable funding source for the board’s work in inspecting and permitting septic systems. By state law, septic systems must be inspected — not pumped, Lambert noted, just inspected — every three years. According to the board’s report, King County has an estimated 40,000 septic systems.

The proposal has drawn strong criticism from county residents on septic systems at each of the public meetings.

“We have heard from many constituents that they do not support the fee,” read a statement on the Board of Health website Wednesday morning. “However, there are state and local laws that require Public Health oversight of on-site septic systems. With this in mind, we will continue to work with the community and elected officials to develop a revenue-backed program that has the support of septic system owners and that protects human health and the environment.”

The board of health proposal called for an annual fee ranging from $23 for a rural property to $37 for an urban property for permitting and inspections. Because the board is comprised of officials appointed from other governing bodies, it did not require approval from any other agency to implement the fee.

That’s why Lambert was so happy to see the support of her constituents at the Fall City meeting.

“It’s really nice to know that when you say, ‘this is a public policy I don’t want for you guys,’ they showed up,” she said. “I can’t do that on my own. Because everybody stood up with me, I wasn’t the only voice….Anybody who ever wondered if their voice made a difference, should not wonder any more.”

She doubted that the board would develop another proposal regarding septic systems this year and hoped that before work began on another proposal, the board would assemble an advisory group of unincorporated residents to help.