IS IT TRUE JANUARY 31, 2018

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We hope that today’s “IS IT TRUE” will provoke honest and open dialogue concerning issues that we, as responsible citizens of this community, need to address in a rational and responsible way?

IS IT TRUE that a public hearing was held recently to discuss the possibility of increasing Vanderburgh County/Evansville water rates?  …this fact-finding meeting was held at Bosse High School?  …this public hearing was hosted by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission in order to discuss future increases of water and sewer rates the city is planning?  …just in case you missed the meeting you can send your questions to the office of utility consumer counselor via their website?  …we are puzzled why we didn’t receive any advance notice of this public hearing from anyone with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission or the Evansville Water and Sewer Utilities Department?

IS IT TRUE despite the obvious attempt to discourage any of the Evansville Water and Sewer Utilities Department rates payers to attend this hearing sponsored by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission a good crowd of people attended this event and voiced their opposition to the proposed water and sewer rate increases?

IS IT TRUE over the years we have made numerous reference that the Evansville Water and Sewer Utilities Board was not only known for their political patronage activities but was also used as a funding source to help the City of Evansville in their occasional financial cash flow problems?  … it’s safe to say that over the last several years the Evansville Water and Sewer Utilities Board give the City of Evansville many millions of dollars in cash advances to help the city with cash shortfalls?
IS IT TRUE that the cost of complacency is about to come crashing down on the customers of the City of Evansville Water and Sewer Utility?…long needed replacements of old cast iron water pipes is finally underway and the cost of the project is staggering?…the latest estimate for replacing just 1.5% of the pipes that need replacing will increase the price of the average water bill in Evansville’s service area by $412 per year per customer?…that works out to just under $40 per month to replace just 1.5% of the pipes?…that if we could just do that 66 more times all the pipes would be replaced and we may be good for another century?
IS IT TRUE if you multiply that $412 per year by 66 the result is $27,720 or an increase in water bill of $2,310 per month?…if we were going to bring our infrastructure up to date in the next three years and if the cost for each foot of pipe replaced is the same then come the summer of 2022 the average water bill in the service area will be about $2,400 per month or $28,800 per year excluding taxes?…this is almost the entire earnings for the average Evansville household?…this doesn’t even include the BILLION DOLLAR SEWER REPAIR that is mandated by the EPA because a half-century of Evansville Mayors was content to spew raw sewage into the streets and the Ohio River?…it is entirely feasible to conclude that with the needed repairs to the water pipes, sewers, roads, sidewalks, plus the highest electricity in the state hat your average household in Evansville will not have a red cent available to live in the future?
IS IT TRUE this situation may well impoverish the region so badly that digital infrastructure like Gbps internet service and 5G communications will never be implemented because the market can’t support the cost?…the responsibility for this lies firmly with the leadership of the City of Evansville during at least the last 60 years if not further? …time and time again, Evansville, has squandered taxpayer dollars on fun and games  and political “pork barrel” projects while neglecting basic infrastructure?….the game that our litany of Mayors has played has Evansville in a position of overextended finances with no high-value workforce to pay for the cost to bring the place into the modern world?
IS IT TRUE that by 2021 when these few miles of water pipes are replaced, the water rates will have increased by 118% in only 5 years?…the new pipes alone are causing a 48% increase in the next 3 years?…if you like that just bend over and prepare for this to happen 66 more times with just the water pipe replacement program?…while the CCO is supportive of and an advocate for these updates, we are very concerned that the people who live in Evansville will be run out of town by the costs associated with doing them?
Todays “Readers Poll” question is: DO YOU FEEL THAT OUR “IS IT TRUE” COLUMNS ADD SUBSTANCE TO THE CITY COUNTY OBSERVER?
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