Marshall Denounces Sedona Plan to Transfer Water Cost-Shift

State Representative David Marshall (R-7) spearheaded a recent letter to the Arizona Corporation Commission denouncing a plan by the city of Sedona to force non-residents to pay millions in a cost shift.

The Arizona Daily Independent described how Sedona is requiring the Arizona Water Company to bury a new water storage tank underground and cover it with a fake house, the costs of which will be passed on to non-residents of Northern Arizona outside of Sedona.

"The principle of cost causation—wherein those who drive up costs should be the ones to pay for them—is fundamental to fair ratemaking," said State Rep. Marshall in his letter, adding, "Sedona's plan is antithetical to fair and ethical ratemaking and should be an easy rejection by an impartial Corporation Commission."

Additionally, he emphasized that "Arizona Water Company's northern Arizona ratepayers—including the good people of Pinetop-Lakeside, Heber-Overgaard, Rimrock, Munds Park, and the Village of Oak Creek—did not ask for these costly design features," and that "Quite frankly, it's absurd to ask them to fork over millions to subsidize the excessive, big-government design mandates of a city nearly 200 miles away."

As a result, State Rep. Marshall urged the Corporation Commission to require that only Sedona ratepayers, those who benefit most from the city's decision, be solely responsible for paying the taxes necessary to cover the costs of the construction project.

"This is a matter of fairness and affordability," the Gila County-area representative concluded. "Sedona chose to inflate the cost of this project for its own benefit. The rest of northern Arizona shouldn't be stuck footing the bill for Sedona's multi-million-dollar expectations."

Marshall is not the first Arizona Republican to take issue with state water policies, as his colleague, State Representative Gail Griffin (R-19), previously condemned Governor Katie Hobbs' (D-AZ) decision to veto Senate Bill 1300, which would have let residents of the San Simon Valley area vote to establish an irrigation non-expansion area (INA) in the groundwater basin there, in May.

"What the Governor wants in rural Arizona is to adopt regulations that are more stringent than urban areas like Phoenix and Tucson, where over 80% of the population resides," said State Rep. Griffin, adding, "These extreme expectations are simply not achievable for rural Arizona, nor are they consistent with the local customs, culture, and traditions of the area. Our communities want to protect these values, yet the Governor is moving full steam ahead with her radical agenda."