Thanks in large part to King County\u2019s strong credit rating, the next sewer rate increase will be the lowest in 15 years under a proposal by King County Executive Dow Constantine.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
His proposal calls for less borrowing and more cash financing to pay for capital projects, which will reduce outstanding debt by more than a half-billion dollars.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re saving taxpayer dollars and building the infrastructure our growing region needs to protect our natural environment,\u201d said Constantine in a Tuesday media release. \u201cOur strong track record as financial stewards continues to pay dividends for King County ratepayers.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Borrowing less and relying more on cash-financing for wastewater capital projects lowers sewer rates over the long term and will reduce the county\u2019s debt by $582 million by 2030. Without Constantine\u2019s proposed actions, the outstanding debt would increase by $721 million by 2030.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
In the proposal that he sent to the King County Council, the county\u2019s monthly wholesale sewer rate would increase by 5.2 percent \u2013 or $2.19 \u2013 to $44.22 on Jan. 1, 2017. The proposed rate would be in effect through the end of 2018.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The Wastewater Treatment Division\u2019s status as a well-managed, efficient utility is reflected in its excellent credit ratings. Both Moody\u2019s and Standard & Poor\u2019s have consistently affirmed the Wastewater Treatment Division\u2019s bond ratings at Aa2 and AA+ respectively.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cAs representatives of the local cities and the sewer districts who bill customers for wastewater services, we appreciate having a role in developing sound financial policies for King County\u2019s utility that will keep future rates stable,\u201d said Pam Carter, chair of the Metropolitan Water Pollution Abatement Advisory Committee.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The rate proposal calls for the monthly capacity charge levied on new customers to increase by 3.6 percent, from $58.70 to $60.80. The capacity charge, which new customers pay in addition to the monthly sewer rate over a 15-year period, covers the costs of system expansions and new infrastructure needed to serve the region\u2019s growing population.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
King County\u2019s Wastewater Treatment Division serves 1.6 million residents across a 424-square mile service area. Under long-term contracts with 34 local jurisdictions, including Kent, and sewer agencies including Seattle Public Utilities, King County collects and treats wastewater for these customer agencies at one of three regional treatment facilities.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Thanks in large part to King County\u2019s strong credit rating, the next sewer rate increase will be the lowest in 15 years under a proposal by King County Executive Dow Constantine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":7184,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-7183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7183"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7183\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7183"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=7183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}