We have uncovered a true tale of woe that does not bode well for our local sewer district, Terrebonne Sanitary District. Could TSD be going down this same road?
In 2018 the city of Crescent, Oregon decided to build a sewer system to eliminate septic systems in its core downtown. Just like TSD, the good folks of Crescent were sure they could borrow the needed funds to build this system, repay the loans, and pay all of their bills.
The Crescent Sanitary District hired an engineering firm and was able to secure funding through the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), Rural Community Assistance (RACA), Infrastructure Finance Authority (IFA), American Rescue Plan Project (ARPA), and the Oregon Business Development Fund (OBDD). And so the project was put in play.
How in the world could this alphabet list of money lenders not see that the cost of this project could never be supported by such a small community?
By the time the system was complete, over $10,000,000 had been spent on a system for about 350 customers. Over $28,000 per customer.
In addition to problems with the new system, the District faced staffing issues, no district office to operate out of, and no equipment to maintain the system. To make matters worse, the district annexed the city of Gilchrist’s failing system that needed a large sum of funds to upgrade.
As it stands now, the District can barely pay its bill much less pay for its outstanding loans. The District takes in about $400,000 a year in service fees and taxes (yes, everyone pays sewer taxes). The District spends about $260,000 in payroll, $240,000 in materials and services….do you see where this is going….they already overspent their income.
The District owes roughly $5,250,000 after allowing for grants and forgiveness on all their loans. If this District were to be paying their loans, which they are not, they would need $260,000/year IN LOAN PAYMENTS!
The District is now in negotiations to have debt delayed or forgiven because there is no way they can pay the money back in the foreseeable future. Things are in such poor shape that all three members of the Board resigned as of the first of July 2024. We have no idea who is running things now.
This is the effect of grandiose plans, free money and people, and government agencies that spend cash and credit with little-to-no experience.
TSD has received $100,000 for a feasibility study, $1,000,000 to put sewer mains through town, $1,000,000 to add to the Redmond farm and plan to borrow about $5,250,000 to build out the system. All this for about 100 properties in Terrebonne. That is right, all 100 properties that have a building on them. Do you think they can pay for those loans? Crescent can’t, and they have over three times that many customers.
We do not want another tale of woe here in Terrebonne. Learn a lesson from our friends down in Crescent and Gilchrist. Stop this thing before it gets out of control.
Call and or write them and tell them you have concerns. Hopefully they will listen
(425)-242-2458
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