Today, Seattle brings us our prototypical example of city government at work. Ordered by a court to pay $22 million in rebates to water customers for charges the city improperly imposed between 2002 and 2004, the city's "solution" is to impose a surcharge on its water customers to pay the rebates. In other words, it will pay the court-ordered rebates with one hand and collect the rebates back with the other hand.
The Seattle City Council is expected Tuesday to approve a surcharge on city water customers to help cover the cost of a $22 million court-ordered rebate to water customers.
The rebates are for fire hydrant costs that were wrongly charged to water customers. Fire hydrants are a basic city responsibility and have to be paid for from the general fund, the state Supreme Court has ruled.
Arthur Lane, a former Seattle city attorney who, together with Rud Okeson, filed about a half-dozen lawsuits against the city in recent years to protect the rights of ratepayers, called the council's move "interesting."
"It's really ironic to say the least. I think that it is something we have to explore," Lane said Friday.
Lane and Okeson won rebates for Seattle City Light customers several years ago in connection with the way streetlights were paid for. They have also challenged taxpayer spending for public art, and Seattle City Light reimbursements in connection with carbon footprints.
As a result of the latest court decision, anyone who was a Seattle Public Utilities water customer between March 2002 and December 2004 is due a refund under a court order issued in October. But current water customers will be the ones paying the bill.
Eligible water customers will get their full rebate in May or June. The surcharge and tax will be spread over 21 months.
By increasing the utility tax to cover the rebates, the city doesn't have to spend money from the general fund, which covers most other city services.
The plan, proposed by Mayor Greg Nickels, comes at a sticky time. The city just approved a water rate increase in the fall, and council members aren't anxious to add a new tax on top of it.
Lucky citizens of Seattle! It must be a treat living in a city that leans so far to the left. It's one surprise after another, from high-tech public toilets that have turned into a haven for prostitutes and drug dealers to a surge in weather-related traffic accidents due to the city's refusal to use road salt on icy roads. The fun never stops when government has its fingers everywhere and its hand in every pocket!
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