Sunday, September 7, 2008

Water Rates Up Again?

One of the consent agenda items (that's a council item that can be approved without discussion by council members if they so desire) is consideration of raising water rates... yet again.

The item: "Resolution No. (R)08 - 70 Providing Notice of Intent to establish and
increase water rates fees and charges for the Oro Valley Water Utility -
public hearing to be held at 7:00 p.m., November 5, 2008"

And remember, as water rates go up so do the taxes the town raises on them.

What an ugly situation.

Rates increasing. No real countercheck.

1 comment:

boobie-baby said...

You see, here's the catch--and it's not exclusive to OV Water. It's the same for almost every water utility, at least in the west:

If you use MORE water, the utility has to drill deeper to bring the water to the surface. This means that old wells are closed, new ones are dug, new lines are installed, etc. This, of course, costs more money.

If you use LESS water, the utility has to charge more to make up the difference since their fixed costs have also gone up due to increases in prices for materials, personnel, etc.

Water connection impact fees mitigate only some of this. Like the rest of the Town, if there's no building going on, there are no fees coming in.

It's no national secret. The OV Water Utility has said for years that rates would continue to go up. The only question each year is "how much"?