Raised utilities mean $250 water bills a norm in Crandall (Texas)

[Robbien]

Source: KFAA TV

Crandall recently raised its sewer bills 80 percent. Water bills surged 45 percent.

The city said it had to because the utility was going broke. City officials and residents said the utility wasn't managed as well as it should have been by previous administrations.

The recent utility increases aren't permanent, said Heath Kaplan, the city manager.

"We're not going to say, 'Hey, these are the rates,'" he said. "They'll be in place five years and that's the end of it. We will analyze rates and see when the utility gets up to a healthy level."

But, residents have seen massive changes in their bills. In June, for example, one resident's bill was $64. Two months later, his bill increased to $416. Others shared similar stories.

Read more: http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/localnews/news8/stories/wfaa090813_mo_protest.da1a932e.html

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Sign of the times to come for many of us?

[Psephos]

1. I'm more concerned about where electricity is headed. n/t

[Nevernose]

2. Cut back on lawns

Plant more indigenous plants. Dallas is hot and dry most of the time, and if it's not a place where people are using grass, then get rid of it.

[Downwinder]

3. All they need is Single Payer Coverage. Do away with Health Care costs. n/t

[Frosty cupcake]

4. If their old prices were similar to those in my part of the country

They haven't been paying nearly enough for water. Sorry, but the best way to get people to conserve is by charging a more reasonable rate for water. I did an audit of my family's usage two years ago and we were using far too much for a family of three. (But again, water is cheap here.)

We let the lawn go native, planted native plants, installed cheapo water savers on all our faucets (3 bucks each), fix a leaky outdoor spigot, installed a water saver in the toilet, and cut down on the length of showers.

Where that municipality went wrong was in jacking it up all at once, not giving residents time to prepare for the hefty bills.

[here_is_to_hope]

11. Yeah, charge them more, that will teach them.

And lets raise the price of gas while we are at it...and food to, those who live paycheck to paycheck can then learn to conserve...do I need a tag?

[Politicalboi]

5. Maybe this will help

http://www.jabberwonk.com/flinker.cfm?cliid=1ge7k1

Now if we don't drop the ball, we might actually see alternative energy.

[SpiralHawk]

8. "Alternative energy? Sounds like socialism." - Freepers

eom

[Tx4obama]

6. Time to dig a well and put up an outhouse in the backyard. n/t

[bl968]

7. Using a well and out house...

That won't work check out a Broadway musical called urinetown...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urinetown

[sofa king]

9. At that price point, solar stills become cost effective.

Scroungers can make them for free, but to buy all the pieces costs around $200. I'm sure the utility company would balk at the practice if they learned about it, but sly consumers could probably recapture drinking water from wastewater, then use the remaining sullage to flush the toilets. A clever person might even be able to replace the traditional black bottom with solar panels, and generate enough electricity to pump the sullage to the toilets, or generate hot water.

http://www.thefoodguys.com/solarstill.htm

[Union Yes]

10. Let em wallow in their filthy greed. They earned it.

[Paladin]

13. "Filthy Greed"? "They Earned It"? Who Are You Referring To? (n/t)

[haele]

12. This is bad - how can someone in a house on a limited income afford water?

And I'm not talking about just seniors or families, I'm talking about anyone. Water and sanitation is a critical component of quality of life; more important than a roof over your head that you can store stuff in, and far more important that electricity or cable.
$64 every two months for water and sewage in a desert area doesn't sound like a high amount of usage, even if the water is cheap due to a local aquifer. That is just above half of what I was paying in the 90's in SoCal when I had a three bedroom house and a small garden that was watered twice a week during the summer on a lot that was just less than a quarter acre, and about what I was paying when I lived in a two bedroom apartment.
A sudden jump to $416, even if it was for a two month billing cycle, would destroy the budget of any family making median wages in Texas, especially when it's unexpected.
As for being "temporary" - puleese. We all saw what "temporary" price hikes in services lead to. If the cost of water ever goes down in that community, at best, it would go down by half. That $64 bill will never be seen again - I'll wager dollars to donuts that when those temporary price hikes end, that resident is going to be seeing bills averaging around $200. Not only that, water costs will be passed on to other businesses, especially restaurants, bars, convenience stores, doctor's offices, dentists, health clinics...the local farmers and ranchers...schools...
"Mismanagement" by previous administrations shouldn't result in a 80% increase in the water bill, it should result in a 40% decrease that is borne by the management of the water board and affiliated city management. Sounds as if there was a lot of high-priced deadweight, or unnecessary privatization with kickbacks on sweetheart deals.

Haele

[ensho]

14. wow! that's a lot of money for a monthly water bill

how are people managing? I'm sure they are cutting back on water use, but still.