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