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Local officials warn proposed transfers cut Public Works Assistance and jeopardize infrastructure projects
Summary
Public Works Board chair and several city and county officials told the Capital Budget Committee that the governor's draft would shift money away from the Public Works Assistance Account and that local flood and water infrastructure projects require more funding than is proposed.
Representatives of the Public Works Board and elected local officials told the House Capital Budget Committee they are concerned the governor’s capital proposal shifts money away from the Public Works Assistance Account and leaves community infrastructure needs underfunded.
Catherine Gardeau, chair of the Public Works Board, said the governor’s proposal appropriates $350,000,000 for the account but the board is requesting $400,000,000 to meet nearly $200,000,000 in unfunded prior requests and another $200,000,000 to meet known pipeline demand. She warned that proposed transfers and diversions to the general fund “would be a combined total of $307,000,000 in the 25–27 biennium” and that those funds “will not return to the account” for future awards.
Local leaders from Grays Harbor and the Chehalis Basin described urgent flood protection needs and asked the Legislature to honor previously committed funding. Brian Shea, city administrator for Hoquiam, and Ruth Clemens, city administrator for Aberdeen, said the Aberdeen–Hoquiam flood protection project needs an estimated $233,000,000 overall and that $17,000,000 previously promised for the North Shore levee segments is absent from the governor’s draft. Vicki Raines, chair of the Chehalis Basin Board and a Grays Harbor County commissioner, said the basin has previously committed state funds and that the project leverages substantial federal funding.
Other local officials cited reliance on Public Works Board awards to avoid steep rate increases. Dan Ford, Toppenish city manager, said the city received a conditional Public Works Board award of $8,100,000 for wastewater upgrades and cautioned that sweeping funds from the assistance account would force large rate increases for ratepayers.
Ending: Witnesses urged the committee to limit diversions from the Public Works Assistance Account, consider the board’s $400 million request, and honor prior legislative commitments to locally prioritized levee and water projects.
