5/27/2009 11:53:00 AM Residents peeved about septic fee
Justin Burnett / The Whidbey Examiner
Teronda West resident Jeanette Wolfrank turns on the water so Silvia Septic Services foreman Mark Lenocker, left, and operator Ricky Ashe can inspect a filter in her home’s septic system. Business owner Bruce Silvia, background, jots down the results. Island County government requires that all home systems be inspected regularly, but a new filing fee has some residents crying foul.
By Justin Burnett Examiner Staff Writer
On top of requiring that septic systems undergo regular checkups, Island County government has begun charging a $62 filing fee for the submission of inspection reports - and it's causing quite a stink.
Since the filing fee went into effect May 1, the Island County commissioners have received a steady stream of complaints from homeowners and septic-system inspectors alike.
In an e-mail to the commissioners, William or "Skip" Augle, who lives on the north side of Penn Cove, said it was already unfair that the rules do not allow him to inspect his system himself. To comply with the law, he said he had to pay a professional $162 to do the job. Finding out about the county fee added insult to injury, he said.
"Now, I am told, to file this report with Island County it will cost me an additional $62," he wrote. "Now that is a load of crap."
Augle lives on a fixed income and the cost of inspecting his septic system will claim 80 percent of the federal stimulus money that arrived with his regular Social Security check. The cost of the inspection, coupled with the filing fee, is "breaking the backs of the seniors," he wrote.
The filing fee also has proven troublesome for commercial inspectors. Bruce Silvia of Silvia Septic Service in Oak Harbor said he didn't know about the filing fee until after he submitted several customer inspection reports to the county.
"They called me back and said they couldn't accept them because I didn't pay the fee," he said.
In all, Silvia said he had to go back to 15 customers and ask them to pay the fee. While most paid, he will have to pick up the tab for four customers who refused on the basis that the fee was not included in Silvia's original quote.
"They were furious," he said. "I don't even know if I'll get them back as customers. They thought I was being shady."
So far, seven people have formally complained about the fee. Island County Commissioner John Dean said they likely represent a much larger group.
"That's probably the tip of the iceberg," Dean said.
Dean said the county didn't sneak the filing fee past the public. The fee was discussed at public meetings and reported in newspaper coverage.
"People have to meet us halfway and pay attention at least some of the time," he said.
In 2007, the Island County Board of Health adopted new rules that require all septic systems in Island County to undergo regular inspections. Basically, all gravity-fed systems must be checked every three years. More complicated pressure and alternative systems must be inspected annually.
The county offers classes to teach homeowners how to inspect gravity-fed systems, but only a qualified professional can check alternative systems.
The new laws were the county's response to 2005 state Department of Health regulations that require the 12 counties bordering Puget Sound to develop a written plan for the monitoring of private sewer systems. The goal of the program is to reduce pollution of the Puget Sound marine enviromment.
While the county began collecting the filing fee in May, it was originally approved with the rest of the county rules in 2007. Its application was purposely delayed. The cost of implementing the first year of the program came from the county's 2008 current expense fund.
Island County Public Health Director Keith Higman said the new rules cost about $180,000 a year to implement.
Dean said the fee is not a new tax. The revenue only can be used to pay for the septic system inspection program - recording reports, monitoring compliance and offering self-inspection classes. Without the fee, Dean said public health would not be able to meet state requirements.
But Silvia and Clinton resident Bob Leahy both say the explanation doesn't hold water. Leahy researched the annual inspection report filing fees of all 12 counties affected by the state mandate and found that Island County's is the highest.
The closest second was Kitsap County, which charges $50. While about half charge between $25 and $42, three counties charge nothing, and one, Thurston County, has yet to adopt permanent rules. The Examiner confirmed Leahy's findings.
But Higman said comparing the fees by county is misleading. For example, San Juan County's filing fee is just $25, but that's because their program is subsidized by its current expense fund. Every one of the counties must pay for the program, but Island County is the only one that places the entire financial burden directly on the shoulders of its health department.
Silvia also criticized the fee. When the rules were discussed in 2007, Higman reported the county was expecting about 17,000 inspections every year. At that rate, the filing fee would generate $1.05 million annually.
"Are you going to tell me that all that is going to be put back into septic inspections?" Silvia said.
Higman said the fee won't generate that much money. His earlier estimate of 17,000 inspections a year is a best-case scenario, he said. He expects compliance to be just 10 percent of that number - about 1,700.
"We're not going to get that much money, and if we did we would readjust the fee," Higman said. "What we need to be sure of is that we cover the costs of the program."
Reader Comments
Posted: Friday, May 29, 2009
Article comment by:
Marilyn
our taxes already pay to run the health department and now they want us to pay to file this paper work. One of there workers who we already pay with our tax dollars will enter the information into the computer we already paid for. This more than just stinks I think it should be fought and stopped. It really is time that we stand up and and say NO!Contact your commissioner and complain loudly.
