Town Council voted, 4-2 to increase water rates tonight. We believe there was only one year since 1996 that the OV Water Utility has not raised our rates.
Phil Saletta, Director of the Water Utility, presented a rather uncompelling case for increasing water rates. Only Bill Garner & Salette Latas believed the rate increase was NOT justified.
Also, let's not forget, thanks to Loomis, Carter & Kunisch we still have the additional 2% tax on our water usage (plus gas & electric.)
10 comments:
I applaud Council Persons Latas and Garner for their stand on behalf of the people.
A 5+% rate increase in times of economic distress is a burden for the average Oro Valley homeowner.
Things were far better when Rural Metro owned the system.
More proof that we need CHANGE in Oro Valley! Vote Mike Zinkin for Mayor and put a stop to this foolishness!
Does the Zee Man know something we don't know? In addition to fire and emergency services, did Rural Metro ever deliver water?
I believe that the Zee Man means Metro Water, although they were not the only provider--there were (and are) a number of smaller water companies serving Oro Valley and other surrounding communities.
I don't know about Zeeman or boobiebaby, but when we got here in 1993, we were paying Canada Hills Water & Tucson City sewer.
Our annual bills then were almost comparable with our monthly bills now.
Yeah! I know, "Inflation" is a dirty word!
Wow, Art. I moved here in '94 and my bill has doubled. Not only has it doubled, my household size has shrunk from 5 to two.
Ouch. I meant Metro Water.
I fail to see why a Oro Valley Water rate increase goes through fare less scrutiny than a rate increase of a public utiity. The Arizona Public Utility Commission works to protect the consumer.
While the Oro Valley Water rate increase works to protect the utility.
We got it backwards.
The water utility is supposedly a break even operation, so they need to charge enough to cover their expenses. An audit of their expenses might be beneficial. If the salaries of staff is anything close to the averages for other OV staff, then I would not be surprised at all by continuous annual increases. Also, it is very expensive to build the infrastructure for using CAP water and reclaimed water for irrigation. Finally, if golf courses were charged a luxury tax type of surcharge, we might be able to keep charges for the average citizen to a minimum.
Fox is right, audit them. Have an independent auditor review their books and determine the need for an increase. As a business person I know that you can not get away with incresing prices unless you have a monopoly The monoploy, such as TEP and other utilities, need to go before a commission and prove the need for the increase.
wHAT PROOF DID THEY OFFER OF THE NEED FOR THE INCREASE.
Anothet example of the need to change the decision-makers.
The demand for water is down. Less water delivered means the costs to deliver should be down as well.
How has the OV Water Utility tightened their belts?
Can anyone remember if there were any job cuts in the water department?
I don't see raising the rates as fiscally responsible.
Kudo's to Salette and Bill for voting no!
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