DELTA VOTERS STUDY WATER SEWER BONDS

DELTA -- Voters will decide Nov. 3 whether to approve $380,000 in bonds to finance construction of a new water tower, the drilling of a new well and upgrading some of the city's water lines.

The city intends to fund the capital improvement project by issuing $190,000 in revenue bonds and $190,000 in general obligation bonds, the latter to be paid for by raising the city's sales tax by one-half cent.

The city has gone to the voters after failing for four straight years to snare a community block grant that would pay for the improvements officials say are needed.

Delta's only existing water tower holds only 50,000 gallons and is more than 25 years old. "We haven't had any problems with it," Mayor Paul Evans said, "but we have only one day's supply of water. If it goes down, that's it."

There is concern that the city would be in a precarious situation in the event of an extended breakdown or a large fire.

The city wants to drill a 100-foot well to supply a new 50,000-gallon water tower. The two wells and towers would operate jointly.

Officials think the existing treatment plant will be able to handle the additional water supply.

The city also wants to replace some water lines and extend several fire hydrants.

Water and sewage fees will not be raised if voters approve the revenue bonds. The bonds would replace revenue bonds which have almost been retired.

The half-cent sales tax hike will go toward retiring the general obligation bonds.

Simply imposing the sales tax will not fund the entire project, Evans said, because there isn't enough retail business in Delta. The city has a population of 450.

City Attorney Joe Rice said all three ballot questions the revenue bonds, the general obligation bonds and the sales tax must pass for the project to proceed as planned.

Both the revenue bonds and the sales tax require a simple majority for passage. General obligation bonds must receive four-sevenths of the vote.

If voters approve only one of the $190,000 bond issues, "It's certainly possible...that the board might go forward with a scaled down project," Rice said.

For instance, if the general obligation bond issue passes but the sales tax does not, the city could still authorize the collection of an annual tax that would repay the $190,000.

Evans said the city has taken this dual approach to repaying the debt "so it doesn't hurt just one group of people."

The proposed project met little opposition at a recent town meeting, although Evans said most of those who attended came seeking information.

"If it doesn't pass, at least we're making an effort to do something about it," he said.

"We'll pay for it now or we'll pay for it later."