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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOpposition to Diversion of funds from Public Works Trust Fund DocuSign Envelope ID: FCA4E204-3C12-4FA7-BA2C-8BCO2A8D6AD6 Ir IX Pot �l�l GELEJ 321 East Fifth Street WASH I N G T O N , U . S . Port Angeles, WA 98362 March 8, 2022 VIA Email to: Dear Senator Van De Wege, Re: City of Port Angeles Opposition in Reduction of Funds to the Public Works Trust Fund Dear Senator: The City of Port Angeles learned about the House's plans to pay for the Transportation package by taking more money from the Public Works Trust Fund, also known as the Public Works Assistance Account. In response to this matter, the City Council of the City of Port Angeles took the action during their meeting on March 1 to direct me as the Mayor to urgently communicate to our 24th Legislative District representatives the City of Port Angeles' opposition to reducing funding to the Public Works Trust Fund (aka Public Works Assistance Account). We are reaching out to you, urging you to not continue to defer maintenance on essential infrastructure. 1) The Public Works Trust Fund helps us provide water, sewer, and other basic needs. In the past, the City has used Public Works Trust Funds for our Combined Sewer Overflow. We have also used this funding for Watermain replacements downtown, 8th Street Reconstruction, sewer and stormwater repairs. The state has made it a regular occurrence to raid that account and every year public infrastructure suffers. 2) Your strong support is necessary to protect funding for critical utility infrastructure needed in your district and all our communities. In a 2019 study, the local chapters of the American Society of Civil Engineers from Seattle, Tacoma-Olympia, and the Inland Empire rated the state of infrastructure for drinking water as a C , sewer a 1:')+, and Stormwater received a C" ... When this regional score is applied locally to the City of Port Angeles, we see reflective scores almost a full grade lower due to the age of our infrastructure and landscape challenges that other communities in the state do not face. The American Society of Civil Engineer's number one recommendation to improve Washington State's drinking water infrastructure was: continue to fund and distribute PWAA funds,loans, and grants. The recommended distribution of these funds is managed by the State's Public Works Board. Before this changed over the weekend, Cities were supporting the Transportation package as it is proactive and forward reaching, even though it didn't do enough to make up for the deferred DocuSign Envelope ID: FCA4E204-3C12-4FA7-BA2C-8BCO2A8D6AD6 2 March 8, 2022 Re: City of Port Angeles Opposition in Reduction of Funds to the Public Works Trust Fund maintenance backlog on streets and sidewalks. We wish to address preservation and maintenance of street and sidewalk infrastructure as it is critically linked to supporting multimodal transportation. City revenues are severely limited with multiple competing needs, which means street maintenance often gets pushed to a subsequent year's budget. But that annual budget balancing strategy is not sustainable, because after a street degrades too far it requires a complete rebuild, which costs a lot more than a preservation repave. In other words, we can only kick the can down the road for a decade or so before it falls into a pothole. The City of Port Angeles can't get out of our one hundred thirty-four million-dollar($134M) street and sidewalk deferred maintenance hole without assistance from the state. This situation is not unique to Port Angeles, and we hope you will support cost-effective preservation maintenance for local streets and sidewalks so that we don't have higher costs in the future. All of this, however, is not justification or reason to compound the dismal landscape that is funding and prioritizing the needed improvements to infrastructure that lays underneath our transportation networks and support affordable housing within our state. In the 2019 study by the American Society of Civil Engineers they clearly outline the top four ways in which the legislature can work to ensure our infrastructure landscape does not continue to deteriorate: 1) Leverage sustainable loan programs to finance necessary infrastructure projects around Washington. State and federal support is available through various revolving loan programs, including the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act(WIFIA), the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act(TIFIA), federal-state partnership revolving funds, and the state's Public Works Trust Fund. These funds provide a valuable source of low-cost infrastructure financing to local governments. Financing from the Public Works Trust Fund, specifically, must be used for its intended purpose of modernizing infrastructure, rather than to offset spending elsewhere in the state budget. 2) Balance the needs of urban and rural communities. Forward-thinking investments in categories like transit and schools are helping the Puget Sound region prepare for the future. However, investment and priority should not be limited to urban areas. Rural communities require support for maintaining and improving water, roads, aviation networks and more. Funding for rural infrastructure will ensure all Washingtonians have equitable access to jobs and a strong quality of life. 3) Meet the demands of a growing population. Recent changes in the state are stress- testing the civil infrastructure we use every day. Population growth in Washington continues and Seattle has been the fastest-growing city in the country since 2010. Not DocuSign Envelope ID: FCA4E204-3C12-4FA7-BA2C-8BCO2A8D6AD6 3 March 8, 2022 Re: City of Port Angeles Opposition in Reduction of Funds to the Public Works Trust Fund only are transportation facilities congested, but demands on water supply, schools, and wastewater continue to grow. Service providers need investment to maintain and increase performance. 4) Lead in environmental sustainability and resilience to natural disasters. Washington is home to vital natural resources, a pristine environment, and a booming population that treasures them. The Governor, state lawmakers, and Washington voters have so far supported major investments in infrastructure as a means to prepare for our future and preserve what we have today. Looking forward, we need green stormwater infrastructure to protect fish and wildlife in Puget Sound, improved mobility to fight congestion, and to prepare for risks from extreme events, such as a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake or other natural disaster. All of these action items require robust, sustained investment in our infrastructure. All of these apply, but please note the first 2 priorities. Even though a majority of this funding is through loans, the states continued raiding of this account will have (and has had) a ripple affect where larger urban municipalities will attack smaller grant opportunities that sustain smaller rural municipalities such as Port Angeles. Moreover, without policy prescriptions that prioritize a diverse and appropriate funding mechanism that includes important infrastructure improvements as prioritized by the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Public Works Trust Fund Board, I question how we are prioritizing affordable and equitable access to housing within the communities that need it the most. Please oppose the diversion of funds from the Public Works Assistance Account(PWAA) to fund the state's transportation revenue package. Do not allow a raid on utility infrastructure funding sources, paid through the utility taxes we all pay on our utility bills. It is essential that PWAA funds no longer be diverted and that the funding be reinstated so that utilities can access low interest loans to replace failing utility infrastructure. I would be happy to discuss this further. Don't ter lyc &.i :. ` or by phone at(360) 417-4500. hesitate to contact me at email at ���.. Thank you, DocuSigned by: /� � - 9F660451155E40= 9._. Kate Dexter Mayor