County sets date for hearing on new district boundaries

Organizers who want to start a Whidbey-based electric company have revised their guesstimate on how much a new public utility district will cost taxpayers.

“People For Yes on Whidbey PUD” now say a property tax levy of 2 to 4 cents per $1,000 assessed property value would cover the start-up costs of the PUD.

The number is a big change from an earlier estimate of a 45-cent hike in property taxes. A spokesman for “People” said the earlier estimate was a misstatement.

“What we’ve done is we’ve looked, based on tax rolls, how much we could get at 2 cents,

3 cents, 4 cents,” Ed Jenkins, a spokesman for “People For Yes on Whidbey PUD,” said Tuesday.

“We know no more than 4 cents is needed. We are very, very, very confident that we won’t go over 4 cents,” he said.

“People For Yes on Whidbey PUD” submitted enough signed petitions in late June to put the question of forming a new utility district on the November ballot. If voters approve the formation of the new utility, the process would begin for a takeover of Puget Sound Energy’s territory on Whidbey Island.

PSE, the state’s largest electric and natural gas utility, serves roughly 34,000 customers on Whidbey.

Jenkins said the new estimate was created by applying different levy figures to the county’s tax base. He would not say how much money is actually needed to run the PUD once it begins operations.

An actual feasibility study has not been done yet, and won’t be done until after voters approve the PUD, Jenkins said.

Jenkins also said that during the first six months after the PUD is formed, PUD commissioners will use rented and leased equipment and hire a minimal staff.

The PUD commissioners will not get a salary until the agency actually starts delivering power, he said.

The actual purchase of PSE assets will be done with 30-year bonds, Jenkins said. PSE has not yet released figures on the value of its infrastructure on Whidbey Island, though a report is expected sometime in August.

Other work on creating the new PUD is also progressing.

Island County commissioners decided Monday to hold a hearing to set the proposed boundaries of a new public utilities district for Whidbey Island.

But the move doesn’t mean commissioners support or oppose the idea to create a new utility district, said Island County Commissioner Phil Bakke.

“We don’t get to say no to the boundary,” Bakke said. “Under the statute, the board is simply looking to see if there are competing public interests, and there aren’t any.”

Organizers of the effort have raised concerns about a potential sale of PSE to an Australian-based investor group, but critics of the new PUD have said the burden of the takeover effort will fall on the shoulders of property owners.

Bakke said state law prevents the county from pulling the plug on the ballot measure.

“We don’t have the authority to prevent it from being put on the ballot, nor do I think we should,” Bakke added. “Let the voters exercise their judgement.”

The hearing will be held at 10:15 a.m. Monday, Aug. 4 in the commissioners hearing room, Room 102B, in the Island County Annex Building, 1 NE Sixth St., Coupeville.

The new PUD would be called Public Utility District No. 1 of Island County. It would be led by three PUD commissioners, who would be elected from one of three districts.

District 1 is the area comprised of voting precincts Polnell, Oak Harbor 1, Oak Harbor 2, Oak Harbor 3, Oak Harbor 4, Oak Harbor 7, Oak Harbor 9, Oak Harbor 10, Ault, Cornet, Dugualla, Silver Lake, Highland, Countryside and Soundview.

District 2 is the area comprised of voting precincts Penn Cove, Prairie, San de Fuca, Westview, Hastie Lake, Coveland, Scenic Heights, Swantown, Fort Nugent, West Beach, Oak Harbor 5, Oak Harbor 6, Oak Harbor 8, Oak Harbor 11, Oak Harbor 12, Oak Harbor 13, Oak Harbor 14, Oak Harbor 15 and Hillcrest.

District 3 is the area comprised of voting precincts Austin, Central, Clinton, Deer Lake, Freeland, Glendale, Greenbank, Lagoon Point, Sandy Point, Saratoga, Maxwelton, Useless Bay, Admiralty, Double Bluff, Lone Lake, Bush Point, Possession, Coupeville 1, Coupeville 2, Langley 1 and Langley 2.