A Times Editorial

Tarpon needs your vote to fix sewer systems

There are no Tarpon Springs City Commission races on the Nov. 5 election ballot, but city residents who go to the polls will find an important referendum question that has received little public debate.

The question asks permission for the city to issue up to $18-million worth of revenue bonds to finance major improvements to the city water and sewer systems.

If approved, the borrowed money would be used to upgrade those systems, extend sewer lines to areas now using polluting septic tanks, and possibly pay for a search for alternative sources of drinking water.

Tarpon Springs has a long history of trouble with its water lines, sewer system and wastewater treatment plant.

Part of the problem stems from the age of the city. Tarpon Springs claims to be the oldest city in Pinellas County, and some of the underground lines are 50 to 100 years old. They are prone to leaking and collapse, which leads to interrupted service, pollution of the soil and dips in roads that have weakened lines beneath them.

But a second problem has been lack of attention to system problems by past city officials. Lines were not properly maintained and replaced. And a lack of expertise and oversight at the problem-plagued wastewater treatment plant resulted in the threat of millions of dollars in fines for improper handling of waste and accidental discharges into the Anclote River.

Despite all those recurring problems, for many years the city failed to charge residents high enough water and sewer rates to pay for proper maintenance and replacement of the systems. City officials continued to refuse to raise rates even when the covenants on bonds that had been issued to build parts of the system required certain funding levels. Now, the city is at risk of defaulting on those bonds. The city also is under increasing pressure from regulators to get busy making major improvements.

There has been growing concern among regulators and local environmentalists about the number of Tarpon Springs homes still on septic tanks -- a whopping 34 percent of the city. The area with the most septic tanks is around Lake Tarpon. Several studies have determined that leaky, malfunctioning septic tanks are a likely source of lake pollution. Until sewer service is extended to these homes, the pollution problem will remain unsolved.

It has fallen to the current city administration to get a grip on the problems and find a way to solve them. The City Commission voted earlier this year to increase water and sewer rates 8.85 percent each year for the next five years -- the first increase since 1995. That increase may preserve the city's credit rating, but it is not nearly large enough to pay for the needed improvements. If voters turn down the bond issue, leaving only utility rate payments to finance the improvements, the rate increases will have to be 19 percent per year for five years, city officials estimate.

The city of Tarpon Springs no longer has any choice about whether to do this work. It must. The only question is how to pay for it. Issuing revenue bonds is a common way for cities to finance capital projects and has been done by Tarpon Springs in the past.

The Times recommends a yes vote on revenue bonds for Tarpon Springs.

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