Thursday, June 24, 2010

Sewer Rate Increase: Year Two

It's bad news, folks.

Sewer rates are going up yet again, meaning still higher utility bills for American Fork residents.

We knew this was coming. Last year, the Timpanogos Special Service District (TSSD) raised rates by 26 percent and the City had no choice but to pass along the increase to residents. The district warned us, at the time, that it would be making another increase this year, which it did. Once again, the City has no choice but to pass the increase along to the users.

Please know that the City Council is grumbling about this louder than anybody. We have no control over these rates. We do not set them. We only collect them and turn them in. The City does this as a courtesy to the TSSD and receives no compensation for its billing expenses.

Yet the complaints will be addressed to us in City Council meetings, not to the TSSD at its board meetings.

Grumble, grumble, grumble.

Fellow grumblers, you can see that your complaints do some good by directing them to the TSSD. Its meetings are held on the third Thursday of each month at 6:00 p.m. in the board room at the sewer plant, 6400 North 5050 West, Utah County, 84003. Written concerns may be sent to that same address in care of Tracy Wallace, Chairman of the Board.

I blogged about sewer rates last summer from a different angle; you can read that post here.

But before you complain too loudly, bear one thing in mind. These rate increases will go a long way toward mitigating the odor that has been so deleterious to economic development in American Fork and Pleasant Grove. The TSSD has bonded for new technology slated to be implemented next year, and payments on the bond are coming due.

It would appear that the TSSD can't really win with American Fork. Either it does nothing, and we complain about the odor; or it does something, and we complain about the cost.

That's politics.

1 Comments:

Blogger MarkS said...

Maybe it would be ok to withdraw your billing service though for TSSD and make them send their own bill to us. Their rates are almost transparent to us with the current system. Let's have an accountable, direct relationship, not one that's mostly hidden by AF City's largesse.

July 9, 2010 at 8:29 PM  

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