Some city councilors believe water users are already being soaked. Their rates go up 4.5 percent on Thursday. If Mayor Martin Chavez's plan passes, rates will jump another 4.5 percent in July. The total between the two hikes would tack more than $3 to the average monthly bill.
Some councilors think the city could make do with less money if it were used more efficiently.
Another issue involves the water surcharge. Users balked last year when they were hit with big surcharges on estimated bills. The surcharge was eventually scrapped.
"Over 56 percent of the water users got hit with that surcharge," said Councilor Sally Mayer.
But the new proposal contains a revised set of surcharges that Mayer said isn't fair.
"Averaging people on someone else's average use is not good, and it doesn't encourage conservation," Mayer said.
Mayer said instead of using a city average to compute who should be punished for using a lot of water, that threshold should be set for each customer. Mayer said the city is counting on a lot of water wasters.
"They also have a $1.5 million built into their budget that is that water surcharge, and again I think that's wrong. You're telling people to conserve, yet you're betting $1.5 million that they won't, and you've got to hope that they don't," Mayer said.
Some city councilors who are behind the mayor's proposal are concerned that changing it could hurt the city's ability to borrow money in the future.
Source: KOAT
