Water and sewer rates to rise

If anyone was tuned in to the BOS’s November 10, 2009 meeting, any one of us might have concluded Supv. Hap Connors and the remaining board members were struggling with the “Plan of Finance for the Utilities Enterprise Fund, Spotstlvania County, VA” being presented to them for “recovery efforts to the Dept. of Utilities’ over the next 5 years, with no knowledge of how years 2013, 2014, and 2015 were going to look, by way of containing the cost of operating a viable Department of Utilities in those years. Right now, the Department of Utilities want the spending capabilities up to another $44 million dollars, just to hold the line.

With such a spending agenda comes the cost of additionl debt service. Guess who gets to pay for the additional debt service, plus the cost of building a bigger and better water and sewer facilitie(s) out from the Massaponax Corridor, to handle near future demands that will necessarily arise out of development and redevelopment of Urban Development Areas identified by the Spotsylvania County Planning Commission??

Anyone catch Senator Edd Houcks presentation at the same meeting? Try rubbing Senator Houck’s state and local projected financial future, and let US know where our local government officials are going to find additional spending capital beyond what’s left in the last year of packaged stimulus money, dedicated to make a difference in our current AND future state of affairs.

While Senator Houck made the State’s case, as chrystal clear as he could, and “looking for input” from our local and elected officials, all we heard back from Supv. Connors was the same excuses and whining we’ve been hearing for the past 5 years; OUR lot in life is because the Commonwealth of Virginia has a $9 billion short fall to make up on the State side of spending, that continues to withdraw money and services from our local arenas.

Cosner, Silver and their affiliate special interest groups have a plan. It’s been on their drawing board for years. The Planning Department won’t share this information with US until it comes up in the middle of yet another “Public Hearing” that we can’t bring ourselves to attend, because we have too many excuses for not wanting to know what’s really going on until they get their tax bill.

What eventually comes around is that there is NO NEED to have “Public Hearings” because the cost of doing business in Spotsylvania County is prohibitive. It will eventually cost entirely to much to stage a BOS meeting when few if anyone shows up except the real parties of interest and those most affected by the fallout of yet another mechanism that would ordain the wishes of special interest.

Since we’re paying for the bridge over I-95, and road infrastructure that surrounds Mr. Cosner’s Hospital, why should we not also pay for ALL of the Rt.17 and Rt 2 road infrastructure, the 1000 vehicle parking lot and train station that comes with the VRE mandates and VRE’s Master Agreement, which our elected officials have bought, to assist their constituents to board a train that only goes one way; NORTH.

Let’s all work toward this notion that we are a REGION, not a County. Our shadow government FAMPO will pick up all the sticks and make do with a large pot of money, no matter how poorly one unit (County) does business against anothers. We can then start to think of Stafford, Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, Caroline and King George as just one big happy family and financial institution from which to borrow, lying outside their borders, but within the concept of REGIONAL AUTHORITY. Just think. Fewer meetings to attend with differing county agendas. We’ll all be one, united by our elected officials who also conduct business on Transportation, Revenue Sharing and Landuse Development and agendas from their elected positions on the FAMPO and George Washington Regional Commission.

I’m looking forward to the day, as just another citizen, to discontinue my presence at BOS meetings, for want of better information being developed by FAMPO and their Regional concepts, without oversite, or public involvement.

However, I would suggest you attend all 3 meeting per month; 1) Transportation Advisory Group Committee. 2) Policy Committee. And, 3) Technical Committee meetings. Anyone, with less time on their hands, will want to schedule the GWRC/Fampo Joint Committee Meetings over any other.

If you want to see what Spotsylvania County is going to be in the next 5-10 years, I suggest you stop by Spotsylvania County’s Planning Department for details or just wait on the side lines, in a comfortable chair of your choosing, and let the next 5-10 years of development come to you by way of the Free Lance-Star, and internet web sites.

Dan’s post and my comment about a typo set me to thinking…a very dangerous situation, when I start “thinking.”

I set up a little Excel spreadsheet using my current water bill as a check point. Then I ran different usage rates through it. The results were quite surprising to me.

A 15,000 gal/mo user would pay $157.26 today. In 2013, that same usage will cost $176.34. That is a 12% increase. A user using only 2000 gal/mo would pay $12.14 today and in 2013 his bill will be $19.31. That is a 59% increase!!

Now here is the real shocker. A ZERO gal/mo user would pay $5.44 today (this theoretical user would pay only the debt service fees and admin fee). In 2013, this theoretical fellow will pay $12.61 and THAT is a 132% increase!!!

Sometimes the mathematics of a situation can be surprising and tests ones logical thought train. This seemingly inverted and unexpected result occurs because in the proposed rate structure changes the largest percentage increases occur in the debt fees and the admin fee.