Suit Claims Aquifer Fee Is Illegal Property Tax Lawyer Says Proceeds From Fee Being Used On Wrong Projects

A Spokane woman filed a lawsuit against the city and county claiming the $15 annual fee aimed at protecting the area’s water supply is an illegal property tax.

Sandy Smith’s lawsuit also alleges the county is illegally using the more than $27 million collected since 1986 and should refund the money to residents.

“That $15 is to be used to protect the aquifer,” Smith said. “Nothing else.”

Smith’s attorney, Steve Eugster, claims the flat assessment violates the state constitution.

Eugster bases his argument on a recent state Supreme Court case that ruled Seattle’s residential street utility charge an illegal tax.

The court ordered refunds for all the property owners who paid the $2-per-residence charge since it was adopted in 1992.

Property taxes must be based on a home’s or business’s assessed value, which means the owner of a $40,000 home should pay less than the owner of a $400,000 home, Eugster said.

Eugster also claims the aquifer money is being used to “create urban areas outside of the city limits” instead of to eliminate septic tanks in the city and county.

Chief Civil Attorney James Emacio didn’t return several calls to his office Friday and Monday. A receptionist said the case had been referred to an outside firm, but she didn’t know which one.

Stan Schwartz, an assistant city attorney, said the suit presents “a very interesting legal issue,” adding that the city still is reviewing the case.

“I’m not an attorney. But it’s a fee, not a tax,” said Commissioner Steve Hasson, who served as the county sewer coordinator when voters approved the $15 annual aquifer protection fee in 1985.

The fee has “withstood the rigors of time, and it’s a good funding source,” Hasson said, adding that he hadn’t seen the lawsuit.

The commissioner said the Legislature crafted a law in 1985 allowing counties to collect the fee.

“We worked closely with the Attorney General’s office” while deciding how the money could be used, Hasson said.

Spokane County collects about $2.7 million in aquifer money each year and gives $500,000 of that to the city.

When voters approved the fee, they understood it would be used to eliminate 35,000 septic tanks in Spokane’s urban areas, but that’s not what’s happening, Eugster said.

Instead, the lawsuit claims:

City taxpayers are paying for development in the unincorporated county.

The fee was used to pay for construction of the county’s Public Works Building.

The fee is being used to pay general county expenses and salaries.

The county isn’t collecting unpaid assessments. “It’s not fair to cost the good citizens the tax, but not cost the bad citizen the tax,” Eugster said.

, DataTimes