A RESOLUTION relating to Seattle Public Utilities; adopting a 2018-2023 Strategic Business Plan Update for Seattle Public Utilities; and endorsing a six-year rate path to support the Strategic Business Plan Update.
Okay. The bill passed and the chair will sign it upon the new language that will be presented to me in a few minutes. Okay. Okay. Report of the Civil Rights, Utilities, Economic Development and Arts Committee. All right. Every part of the Civil Rights, Utilities, Economic Development and Arts Committee agenda item for resolution 317 60 relating to the state of public utilities. Adopting a 2018 through 2023 Strategic Business Plan Update for Seattle Public Utilities and addressing a six year rate path to support the strategic business plan. UPDATE The committee recommends the resolution be adopted as amended. Thank you very much, Councilmember Herbold. Thank you. I'd first like to amend resolution 31760 by substitute doing version three. A four to a 4/2. Second. It's been moved in second to substitute version three for two a all those in favor of the amendment. Please vote i. I oppose. The ayes have it and Councilmember Herbert deserve the floor. All right, so it's been a while since I've talked about this and I was talking about weekly for a while there and briefings, meetings. The business plan is a six year outlook and guiding document for the utility. It's adjusted every three years to reflect the most accurate information about projects and cost and utility rates need to support those costs. The process begins with a nine member all volunteer customer review panel. They're appointed to act as the voice of the utility rate paying customer. During the planning and development stages of the Strategic Business Plan. The Customer Review Panel was appointed last September, met twice monthly with Seattle Public Utilities to work on a final recommendation, which they sent to the Council and mayor at the end of May, when the Seattle public utility started with that proposed combined rate increase that includes water, wastewater drainage and solid waste of an average of 6.8% increase in rates a year for for 2018 through 2023. Since then, they've worked, along with the committee to bring the possible rate increase estimates that they are that that we are proposing down to 5.4% in late May the well that was so that was the first round bringing it down to a consideration between 5.4 and 5.6. Then in late May, the utility sent out a postcard notifying customers of the planned rate hikes. Customers received that card in late June. The committee met three times since that card went out to discuss the the strategic business plan. During the final committee meeting, we considered and passed several amendments to bring the rate path down further, including assuming a more realistic SIP accomplish rate accomplishment rate, saving 1/10 of a percent, as well as requiring the institution of new system development charges to allow us to recoup 100% of the costs for new water taps. Sort of underlying the principle that growth should pay for growth that saved another 1/10 of a percent in rates. Additionally, in consultation with Councilmember Bagshaw and the utility, we we crafted an amendment to direct SPU to prepare an affordability and accountability plan which will be focused on managing future rate increases. Due to the combination of the amendments, the average average rate increase under the final proposal is down to 5.2%, with an expected additional 1/10 of a reduction in efficiencies that is pending an efficiency and productivity study expected next year. The reductions achieved in the final resolution amount to over 45 million and reduce spending by the utility over six years. In addition, the the Council bill that we'll discuss next will apply rate smoothing over the course of the entire six years so that rate payers will not experience a major increase within any given year. Thanks very much, Councilman Herbold. Are there any questions about this resolution? We have a bill coming up. We'll talk about that a little bit more there. Councilmember Johnson. So I just want to flag for members of the public that we've added another section here, which I think is really critically important as we continue to try to do a good job of controlling costs. And I want to thank Director Hara and her team for working with us on this language. Since joining the council, I've supported Councilmember Herbold and several other of us in asking the mayor's office to do a better job of capital improvement, project oversight. And there's specific language in the resolution that we're poised to adopt that asks Seattle Public Utilities to go out and do a third party cost estimate to validate the work that they've done on projects that are greater than a $60 million threshold. And at our are at the 60% design mark. That will allow us to do a better job of basically planning those projects as they come to fruition and I hope will serve as an example to our other capital facilities departments about the kinds of work that we're expecting them to do to make sure that we avoid what has happened in the past, which is departments coming to us when they are 80% through construction of a project, but 100% through their budgeted process, and at which point we have no choice but to approve cost overruns in order to get to the completion of a project. That is an extremely frustrating position to be in as a policymaker, but one we found ourselves in in the past. I believe that this amended legislation will allow for a greater transparency for us as policymakers to better understand what those cost control items could be as we move forward. And just generally allows us to ask not just as Pew, but moving forward as state and city leaders or other major capital facilities departments to give us better data as decision makers. Self control costs. Thanks. Well stated. We're ready to vote on the resolution. Councilmember So on. Oh. Good. Oh, just a point of clarification. Is the 5.6% per year each year of the six years? It's now 5.2%. I suppose, over a. Six year period. Average over six years. Thank you. I want you to know my comments are in reference to this agenda item, which is the resolution that adopts the strategic business plan for Seattle Public Utilities and also in addition to items five through seven. And while my votes today will be consistent with how I voted in the past on utilities, strategic plans and rate ordinances, I do want to apologize to Councilmember Herbold, who's the chair of the committee, that I don't I don't believe we were able to let you know about these particular words. I apologize for that. But as before, as in the past, I do support the strategic plan and I will be voting yes on I didn't know, item number four because it funds necessary infrastructure. But as before, I do not support how it is going to be paid for. It is going to be paid for by increasing the burden on working people. So I intend to vote no on the rate ordinances in items 5 to 7, which will increase the rates for working families. Since I've taken office, I voted ons voted against such rate increases because I believe that the Council has an obligation to do everything in its power to put the rate increases on big businesses rather than on ordinary working people. Last year in Ireland, the government and the big business interests they represent tried to implement water charges on ordinary people. And what happened in response to that was an incredible mass movement that was led in part by the Socialist Party of Ireland. This mass movement was successful in stopping these water charges and they forced the government to withdraw them. I think water is a human right and it should be paid for by taxing big business. So I will be voting yes on item number four and no on items five through seven. Thank you, Councilmember Swann. Okay, so we have a resolution in front of us I think we're ready to vote on. So those in favor of adopting the resolution as amended. Please vote i, i. Those oppose vote no. The motion carries and resolution is adopted and the chair will sign it. Before we introduce the next matter Council Bill 119083, as amended is now available for presentation a signature. And so the chair will sign the bill now that we have the revised language. Please read the next agenda item into the record.