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Seattle Times: McKenna, Inslee Say Tunnel Cost Overruns Not City’s Responsibility

On Other Blogs   August 8, 2011 at 12:31 pm Lummy Lin

The Seattle Times published a lengthy, numbers-packed piece on Friday breaking down the cost to build the deep-bore tunnel. The piece quotes gubernatorial rivals Attorney General Rob McKenna and US Rep. Jay Inslee reassuring Seattle taxpayers that they won’t be on the hook for cost overruns.

The Times reports on McKenna’s statement. (Tunnel proponents, of course, have already been citing AG McKenna’s written opinion that Seattle is not on the hook for any overruns—and that legislators would have to pass new legislation to make Seattle pay.)

“I don’t believe the people of Seattle alone should be saddled with cost overruns on a project of statewide significance, any more than the people of Spokane should be saddled with extra costs on the [Highway] 395 north-south corridor, or Eastsiders with 520. These costs should be borne by the cities involved and statewide, on statewide projects.”

And Inslee:

“I agree with the bipartisan consensus that any tunnel overruns will be borne by the state. It is a state road funded by state gas-tax money and the costs are the responsibility of the state.”

The issue of cost overruns has long been ammunition for tunnel opponents, who say the “risk is huge.” Not to mention, the infamous legislative clause saddling city residents with the responsibility of paying overruns, which tunnel advocates say won’t be an issue.

A nitpick on the above: Neither candidate explains how they will control costs on the tunnel, or how the state will pay for cost overruns if they occur. Nor have they vowed, as Gregoire has, to veto any attempt to slap Seattle residents with the tax burden. (This is especially pertinent given that the timeline of the tunnel will most likely leave a veto decision to Gregoire’s successor.)  Make of it what you will.

Read the full article here.


  • Tyler

    And every taxpayer will recieve a pony.

  • BigDonLives

    we’re still waiting for the 40 acres and a mule

  • BigDonLives

    we’re still waiting for the 40 acres and a mule

  • http://www.facebook.com/alexjon Alex-jon Earl

    They represent a single portion of a 3-part government — they can say they will veto any such measure, but they can and will fold on many issues in their time in Olympia. For example, remember how the Governor caved on her all-cuts budget, and we got brutal cuts passed, shepherded by the Senate and House leadership?

    It’s overly optimistic to take this at face value.

  • monorail

         I think that cost overruns could be a disaster for Seattle even if the city doesn’t get stuck with the tab.  The reason: if the state is forced (by a governor or judge) to cover overruns, the legislature will be kicking and screaming…   and they will never, ever grant Seattle taxing authority for any kind of transportation project (especially mass transit) for generations to come.  Forget about state funding; they won’t even let us tax ourselves—   not while the state is paying for tunnel overruns.  

     
       Something like this came up in 2005 with the monorail.  Some legislators (from Seattle, I believe) threatened to rescind Seattle’s taxing authority if we voted to go forward with the project.  And Mayor Nickels was told by legislators that if we built the monorail, he could forget all about his beloved highway tunnel (the very next day, he announced he was killing the monorail).

       
      So it seems to me that cost overruns could really put a straitjacket on our future, even if the state pays.  Given the legislature’s fanatical devotion to the automobile vs. Seattle’s desire to find better modes of transportation that don’t involve annihilating the planet, it’s not hard to see how this would play out: Seattle would be at the whim of the state, with nothing on the horizon but cars and highways.  

      
      By the way, I’m not really much of an expert on things like taxing authority— this is just my understanding of the situation.  So if I’m wrong, I welcome clarification (but please try to be nice).

  • http://twitter.com/sarahannelloyd Sarah Anne Lloyd

    Ten thousand points for the (intentional?) Capitol Steps reference.

  • Jakers

    Learn a bit about what your talking about and you’ll see how your ignorant sense of entitlement fuels the hatred of the TEA Party. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/40_acres_and_a_mule

  • sticking seattle

    notice how mckenna says cities involved and the state should pay overruns.  thus, mckenna wants to stick seattle with part of overruns cost.  very different than inslee who says state alone pays overruns.

  • Repete

    If it were up to them I would give a damn

  • Anonymous

    So the state has to lay off people, but then it will have the money to pay construction contractors for cost overruns on tunnel constructions.  This is beginning to sound like New Jersey …

  • Anonymous

    Why can’t the city write contracts with penalties to the contractor for lateness and overruns?  Why should the government agree to a contract that allows overrun costs in the first place?  Failure to complete a project on time and on budget on the part of the contractor should not imply a need for more funding on the part of the government. 

  • jimu

    I’d like to get my money back that I spent on the monorail. If you pay for something and they take your money and decide not to go through with the project, don’t you get your money back?

  • jimu

    I think this would be a more fair way of handling it. Seattle will use the tunnel more than the rest of the state. A shared agreement seems very reasonable to me.

  • jimu

    I thought this was a very objective piece all the way around. I would like to see this writer write more.

  • Anonymous

    I think you’re correct. The statutory provision on overruns is irrelevent. What’s relevant is what happens when there’s no money in hand to pay to finish the project (tunnel, plus west Mercer, transit!?). First, the “incidentals” get sliced. Nick Licata pointed this out years ago (which makes his current support for the damn thing so disappointing).

    So, the result will be no grandiose park on the waterfront. Expect a wide sidewalk. Then the fighting and the lawsuits. LMF = Let’s Make a F*ckup. It will take divine intervention for this project not to be a mess for years.

  • sarah

    What do you mean, “cave”?  She submitted a budget; the Legislature made what cuts they wanted, where they wanted.   That’s the procedure.     

  • sarah

    It’s not the city’s project.

  • http://jabailo.tumblr.com John Bailo

    If King County and the rest of Washington don’t get to vote on the tunnel, then we shouldn’t be stuck with one dime of cost.

    This is not just a “state route” — this is discretionary infrastructure, sold based on particular merits and having competitive technologies (surface, replacement) that offer features that can be described for (all) voters to make a choice.

    In the words of the original Tea Party “taxation without representation is …”