Oconee's Water Rate Increase

Lee Becker never ceases to amaze me, taking a topic as dry as water and
making it as moist and vital to every voter.

Dear Friends,

Unless you've been doing a lot of sprinkling of your lawn, you probably
have not noticed that Oconee County increased its water rates on April 1.

Under the guise of conservation pricing, the increase for those using
more than 12,000 gallons per month was 30 percent.

The head of the citizen committee that reviewed and approved these
increases acknowledged, however, that it isn't clear these rate changes
really will reduce demand for water–which is the stated goal of
conservation pricing.

Moody's Investors Service viewed the increase simply as an attempt by
the county to increase water revenue as a run up to the sale of revenue
bonds for the Hard Labor Creek reservoir in Walton County.

The push for the rate increase came from Board of Commissioners Chairman
Melvin Davis, but the other members of the Board went along with the
increase with little discussion.

For details, go to my blog, www.oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com/.

Lee

--
Lee Becker

Blog: www.oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com

Web: http://lbbecker48.googlepages.com/

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