My thoughts on the Belfair sewer project

More than 10 years ago, the Mason County Board of Commissioners burdened Belfair business owners and all of Mason County with a sewer system nobody could afford. All of Mason County has been subsidizing this burden ever since. Last year alone, Mason County spent $1.2 million of your money just to cover the debt service. Was it wrong 10 years ago? Would it be wrong if the county did it to you again? I sure think so.

Your county commission is about to make a big decision, again regarding unnecessary debt. Two commissioners recently wanted to borrow around $5,000,000 to extend the sewer system into vacant land. Yes, although we still owe $8.4 million dollars on the system, they want to add another $4.5 million dollars of debt. This action would extend the sewer onto one single developer’s private property. Not down the highway, not into a broad area of county industrial lands for many to access, but up over the hill and through one person’s property. If we pay the bill on this infrastructure to increase this property value, the landowner can simply turn around, sell it and capture the added value as pure profit for himself.

What does the general public get? We the people get to pay on the debt for 20 more years. In addition, the commission is considering language that actually leverages the load purely on the backs of Belfair connections again, a gamble that could increase Belfair sewer rates by $87 per month.

To me, this is wrong, but I need to hear from you. Should I keep fighting this fight? Do you care? Do you consider this an appropriate use of your tax dollars? Please weigh in and let the commission know how you feel.

You can contact me at 360-490-7389 or email [email protected].

Commissioner Kevin Shutty and Commissioner Sharon Trask can be reached at 360-427-9670 extension 419 or email [email protected] or [email protected].

There will be a public hearing Monday night Jan. 31 at 6 p.m. You can attend through a link on the Mason County home page. This is a hearing where they can make a decision and move forward on a loan and the extension. This sewer system burden was placed on us without listening to the community. We should not let that happen again. I personally requested a full and open public forum. Discussion should go back and forth between the county and the public. I was turned down. They chose a public hearing where I can’t get my comments and questions out before the public comment. This is why I’m writing a letter. I need you to get information before the day of implementation.

In a hearing, staff presents, then the public comments and then the commission talks without citizen interaction. A decision can be made on that night. All before the community can weigh in on my concerns. We need much more interaction with our constituents before making such an expensive decision.

There are many issues the public should be made aware of.

One commissioner claims this expansion will fix the issue of the county subsidizing the sewer debt. Even a financial novice knows you don’t borrow yourself out of debt. When you are in a deep hole, stop digging. This extension could provide more area for immediate development but it could take another 20-plus years before getting a positive dime back. If we do nothing what happens? The developers put the sewer infrastructure in themselves, on their own dime. Either way, the county gets positive cash flow instead of more debt and we aren’t “gifting” your tax dollars to one single landowner. What do you think?

Would this new expansion help pay off the debt? We currently need at least 754 equivalent residential units to pay off our current debts. We would need more if they are multifamily as these units pay 70% of single-family residential units. If we build the expansion, we will need an additional 400 ERUs to pay off the new $4.5 million loan. We now have about 421 ERUs in all of Belfair. In the past 10 years, we actually went down from 428 to 421 ERUs. After 10 years and the new construction on the hill, we are finally about to get enough ERUs to cover maintenance and operations costs. Those new apartments and home hookup fees go toward the old debt. Again, getting this extra $4.5 million back could take 20-plus years.

Why pay for a developer’s investment? Shouldn’t developers pay for their own development? I definitely think so. Historically, they always have. Why this developer and this location? Do you see us paying for a Shelton or an Allyn developer? No. So, why this one? Originally the commission (part of the commission) wanted to pay for the sewer infrastructure for the entire development on the hill above McDonald’s. It was going to cost us $8 million. I pushed hard against this spending. Eventually, this same developer sold the property and the new owners put the sewer in themselves. Less than one year later, the new owners then sold the property making millions on their investment. This was an immediate benefit to the system. If we had paid for it however, they would have made millions off of our investments and we would be making payments for another 20 years. Developers should pay for their own infrastructure and profit off their own investments. Everybody wins and Mason County benefits immediately.

Commissioners say we need to take this loan because “It is a low-interest opportunity.” If getting a low-interest loan was reason enough, every person in America would own a Volkswagen. Every year they offer 0% interest loans on specific cars. This low-interest reasoning makes no sense on this sewer expansion and even puts the community in more fiscal danger. There is no such thing as a free lunch. There is very specific verbiage included in this loan that scares the heck out of me and should scare you too. This could devastate many Belfair businesses, leaving the rest of you to cover the bill.  

Here is the special language:

Contract has the special term and condition*:

“The contractor shall adopt a rate increase of $87 to the base monthly rate per ERU or demonstrate there has been an increase ERU(s) prior to project completion. This increase shall be maintained for the term of the loan, or until such time the BOARD is satisfied with the CONTRACTOR’s finances and notifies the CONTRACTOR that this condition no longer applies.”

Think about this. In a March 2020 presentation, our staff showed us that the Belfair Safeway and other businesses pay more than twice that of Bremerton. QFC pays around $40,000 a year for sewer now. If it was raised to $75,000 would QFC or Safeway be impacted? Could we lose one of them? How will we recruit more businesses to serve you when we have one of the most expensive sewer systems in the state, in large part due to the continued piling on of debt with most of the benefit being one landowner?

My issues with this expansion could go on and on but making our community aware, is my job No. 1. If the community doesn’t care, I need to know. I will back off and focus on other things you deem important. If this is an issue to you, the other commissioners need to know. I try not to place negative aspersions on people. I feel people usually try to do things for the right reasons. Maybe my other commissioners have been able to justify this in their minds but I simply can’t. This landowner was my friend for more than 10 years, we no longer speak due to my firm position on this issue. I told him I couldn’t get behind this without grants. I have stood by my decision and hope it is the right one. What do you say?

Our actions today have ramifications on our future. The decision to take no action is still an action. What will your actions be? Please contact us and tell us what you think.

Randy Neatherlin is a Mason Couny commissioner representing District 1, which includes North Mason.