| OCR Text |
Show Sewer district considers bids for privatization The Board of Trustees for the Snyderville Basin Sewer Improvement Improve-ment District will review 10 proposals Dec. 20 for private construction and operation of the proposed treatment plant on Silver Creek. According to District Manager Rex Ausburn, the board will consider detailed programs submitted by the private firms. Following the review, the board will invite the companies that it deems acceptable to make oral presentations. The trustees can then determine if private enterprise can build and operate the plant more economically than the public sector, in this case the sewer district. The operation of public utilities by private enterprise has been termed "privatization," Ausburn explained. The phenomenon is growing rapidly across the nation. Privatization has inherent cost advantages in investment tax credits and tax savings on depreciation of structures and equipment, Ausbum said. However, the sewer district, a taxing entity, doesn't qualify for tax credits or tax reducing depreciation. If the district continues to pursue privatization, Ausburn estimates that a firm could be selected by mid-January. Under privatization, the general obligation bond issue that voters approved earlier this year would not be necessary, he said. The district's planned financial package for the new $9.8 million sewer line and treatment plant included a $4 million loan from the Utah State Water Polution Control Committee. That loan would also be unnecessary under privatization. A private firm would probably finance the project through the issuance of industrial revenue bonds, Ausbum said. |
