Jul. 5--Tacoma Public Utilities is taking a group of local governments to court in a case that pits South Sound communities against their big-city water provider.

Depending on the outcome, non-Tacoma water customers could see their rates increase or cities and counties could be forced to pay additional costs out of pocket.

The city is asking a judge to require five governments -- Pierce County, University Place, Fircrest, Federal Way and King County -- to reimburse Tacoma Water for improvements it made to bring water to their communities, as well as pay for future maintenance on their systems.

Tacoma's city-owned utility wants almost $3.9 million annually to cover the costs of installing almost 3,900 fire hydrants and expanding water pipe systems within other jurisdictions' boundaries. Those improvements are required by code in each of the jurisdictions named in a June 12 complaint filed in Pierce County Superior Court.

The city bases its argument on a Washington State Supreme Court decision last year that reaffirmed fire hydrants were the responsibility of cities and counties, not the water provider.

"It's not a huge amount of money, but for us, it's about following the law," said TPU spokeswoman Chris Gleason.

But to the local governments named in the complaint, the city-owned Tacoma Water is asking for a sizable chunk of their general fund budget.

If the court backs the city and its utility, already cash-strapped local governments would have to take on the ongoing maintenance costs for fire hydrants.

Fircrest City Manager Bill Brandon said his city isn't opposed to paying for fire hydrants, but it wants to know where Tacoma got its numbers. It's asking Fircrest to pay more than $3,600 annually.

"We're just saying, 'Give us an accounting of how you came up with this,' " Brandon said.

Communities such as University Place are taking a harder stance, arguing that Tacoma can't change something it agreed to years ago.

University Place City Attorney Janean Parker said it signed a franchise agreement with Tacoma Water to provide service after it became a city in 1995. The agreement places the responsibility of installing and maintaining the hydrants on the utility, she said.

University Place got a quarterly bill from the utility at the beginning of the year. The city calculated that the utility wants $303 for each of its 990 fire hydrants this year. That's $300,000 annually.

"We were clear with them up front that we weren't responsible for this," Parker said.