Bond is subsidizing Sandpoint developers

I just got my city sewer/water/garbage bill and was in for a nice little surprise. It was approximately 16 percent higher than my previous bill … Surprise! Of course, a bond was approved last November, so an increase was expected, but apparently the voters didn’t know the extent to which their rates were going to go up.

As I read the minutes from the Sept. 30 meeting, I wonder just how much the city paid Tom Gould of HDR Engineering, Inc. for his recommendation to jack our rates in these times of high unemployment and cutbacks in the private business sector?

At last September’s council meeting, Gould talked of the need for a 15 percent upward rate adjustment followed by an additional 40 percent upward adjustment after that. So now we can apparently look forward to paying at least 55 percent more by 2012 for our water/sewer over and above the 2009 rates.

A year or two ago, a friend of mine talked with Mr. Van Dyk just before the first attempt to pass the bond. Van Dyk at that time said that it was just to give the city the authority to fund water infrastructure improvements in case revenue from the new developments came up short. Wow, they came up short quick.

Many people seemed annoyed, as when I called City Hall to question the increase. I finally got their answering machine. A woman in the utility department called back the next day and suggested I contact a council person.

I did call Carrie Logan who merely read from last September’s council minutes. Bottom line, no matter what a city official, elected or appointed says, this bond is subsidizing developments and developers. We paid for our water and sewer system years ago, they should be paying for theirs. Check all this out for yourself at the city’s Web site.

MIKE JOHNSON

Sandpoint