Is Mayor Meeker Trying to Raise My Rent?
7 Jan
Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker announced this morning that he will pursue an increase in water surcharges if the drought persists.
The News & Observer reports that, under the proposal, a water customer who uses 6,000 gallons a month would see their annual bill increase from $356.76 to $535.14. And since my water is included in my rent, I can’t help but wonder if that means my landlord would raise my rent? I need to read my lease.
The mayor thinks raising rates will lead more people to turn off the tap, while also pouring more money into waterworks at a time when it is selling less, the N&O reports.
What do you think? Does the threat of rate increases make you more inclined to flush less? Or do you feel you’re already doing all you can do?
I think we can always do more to conserve water. Water is so painfully cheap, it’s hard not to waste … so I don’t necessarily mind the rates going up to reflect the scarcity of the resource.
I don’t mind the rates going up for myself. I hope they will be allocated fairly according to usage. Double my rates and maybe I’ll think differently, but right now I think we’re doing all we can here.
I think a lot of people are used to treating the water bill as a minor monthly expense compared to their gas and electricity, and, to some extent, non-essentials like phone and cable. People generally are at least a little mindful of how conserving gas and electricity, knowing the impact it can have on their wallets, just like people know that cell phone overages can really add up.
For many, this drought is the first time people have begun to be mindful about water consumption,. We’re not always going to be down to a 30-day supply, but the need to conserve will remain, so higher water rates are a good thing. If, hypothetically, water rates needed to go up 20%, I suspect most people would be able to find a way to consume 20% less, thus (approximately) negating any rate increase.
I am guessing you would not pay for the water rate increase until your lease renewal.
I moved from Stockton CA to Durham in early 1993. We were just exiting a 5 year drought in the Central Valley.
Interesting thing is that in CA during the drought, water rates were significantly cheaper than in Durham. I’ve related elsewhere the story of how i moved into a house that had been vacant for the previous year. Rationing at the time was based on previous year’s usage, so we were assigned a ration of 0 units per month.
Of course we appealed. Based on our family size and age (two toddlers) and house and yard size, we were alloted a usage of 28 units per month. That translates to about 170 gallons per person per day.
Mayor Meeker is asking people in Raleigh to reduce usage to 25 gallons per person per day.
I think that North Carolina needs to seriously increase the amount of rainfall that we save in our reservoirs.