Judge To Rule: Can Water Utility Spend On Parks?

This week, an Oregon judge will consider when it’s appropriate for a city water utility to spend money.

Providing clean water to ratepayers? Definitely worth the cost.

Providing clean parks to local residents? Less clear-cut.

Judge Stephen Bushong will consider these questions during a December 4 hearing, The Oregonian reported. In particular, he will consider the validity of “$2.5 million spent by the Water Bureau fixing up Dodge Park, where some water testing takes place outside the city limits, and another $675,000 spent converting land around some city water tanks into ‘hydroparks,’” the Portland Tribune reported.

Water utility managers planned the park projects as a way to rebrand their department. At issue is whether parks can rightfully be funded with water and sewer dollars.

The hearing represents the latest showdown in a long history of clashes between Portland and utility ratepayers. Initially waged in 2011, the lawsuit has focused on questionable use of water and sewer funds by city leaders. Last year, the courts “declared that water and sewer spending must be ‘reasonably related’ to providing water and sewer services, determining that city leaders exceeded their authority by spending nearly $1.2 million on outdoor public restrooms and publicly financed political campaigns,” The Oregonian reported.

The most recent ruling in this lengthy case came a month ago, when Judge Bushong “faulted the city for using utility funds to send 35 employees to help with Hurricane Katrina recovery in 2005,” The Oregonian reported. “This expenditure was inappropriate, Bushong ruled, even though much of the cost eventually was reimbursed. Score one for ratepayers.”

But the city also scored at least once in the last hearing. “Bushong decided it was just fine for the city to slip ratepayers a hefty bill to operate decorative water fountains for more than two decades prior to 2013,” the report said.

For more stories on what water utilities can and cannot do, visit Water Online’s Regulations And Legislation Solutions Center.