This March, my aunt, a senior on a fixed income, handed me her Thurston PUD water bill. The mandatory base charges and fees on her statement were 14 times the cost of the actual water she consumed. For a retired resident trying to survive, a public utility bill should never look like a predatory loan. As I forensically examined the PUD’s finances, I realized her bill was not an isolated error. It is the direct result of systemic administrative greed and mismanagement. Working families and seniors across Thurston County are being priced out of their homes to fund a utility bureaucracy that operates completely in the dark.
Consider the outrageous financial reality. Over the last five years, the current PUD administration bypassed competitive bidding 17 times using silent "Emergency Waivers." Why are there so many sudden emergencies? Because the PUD relies on an admitted “run to failure” maintenance strategy. They intentionally wait for aging infrastructure to catastrophically break, then hand out massive no-bid contracts to fix it. Worse, while ratepayers bear the brunt of these manufactured crises, PUD administrative staff have reaped the financial rewards, billing at exorbitant rates of $146 per hour, plus time-and-a-half, plus performance bonuses during these so-called emergencies.
This complete lack of financial stewardship has created a staggering $30 million infrastructure maintenance deficit. By 2030, the PUD’s own projections show they will have only 46% of the funding required to overhaul our failing water systems. Yet, instead of fixing pipes we already own, the current board actively uses Thurston County ratepayer money to acquire and bail out failing private water systems in Pierce, Mason, Kitsap, and Lewis counties. They are over-leveraging local citizens to fund an out-of-county empire, functioning like a predatory real estate developer rather than a public utility.
To cover their tracks and fund a bloated $582,000 budget deficit, the PUD turned working families into an ATM. They spiked the mandatory fee to connect a new home to the water system by 77%, driving it up to an incredible $8,000 (it was $3,500 in 2021). This is a regressive tax that actively kills affordable housing. Meanwhile, they use public property tax dollars to hire dedicated political lobbyists in Olympia to protect their bureaucracy, while imposing a permanent PFAS tax on victims of corporate pollution.
When the public attempts to ask questions about these rate hikes and insider deals, they are met with mandatory budget hearings that last exactly 60 seconds. In one instance, staff skipped the budget presentation entirely because the room was temporarily empty.
Thurston County cannot afford this unaccountable status quo. We desperately need a forensic watchdog who will mandate strict competitive bidding, eliminate hidden emergency contracts, audit bloated administrative fees, and fiercely protect seniors from escalating base rates. Water costs directly dictate housing costs. It is time to bring true financial accountability back to our utility. I humbly ask for your vote for Thurston PUD Commissioner, District 1.
Troy Kirby
Candidate for Thurston PUD Commissioner, District 1
Editor’s note: Thurston Chronicle allows candidates for elected office to publish one letter to the editor per election cycle.
