The Fight Over Tacoma’s Public Utilities
City Controller Lister defends the administration’s plan to earmark utility profits for bond repayment rather than immediate rate cuts.
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City Controller Lister has stepped into the debate surrounding the municipal water and light fund, asserting that the profits belong to the consumer, but must be managed for the long-term solvency of the plant. Concerns have been raised that the administration’s proposal to divert 5 per cent of utility income into a sinking fund to pay off $2,000,000 in bonds due in 1913 would place an undue burden on current residents. Lister argued that in the eleven years of city ownership, not one dollar had been set aside for these bonds. He maintained that if the city did not begin building a reserve, the eventual debt would be insurmountable. He further noted that the city had already successfully reduced water rates by 15 per cent and light rates by 20 per cent over the past four years, proving the administration's commitment to the consumer.
“The profit accruing in the water and light fund belong to the consumers, and it should be returned to them in the shape of reduced rates.”
The tension between running municipal utilities as public services versus profit-generating assets remains a core debate in Tacoma. Today's discussions regarding TPU (Tacoma Public Utilities) rates and capital improvements mirror Lister’s 1904 struggle to balance consumer relief with the infrastructure debt of a growing city.
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