Worked Up Over Water Rates

Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor,

The following letter was sent to council:

Dear Mayor Clumpus and Council, 

I would like to draw your attention to the alarming rise in billing for water and sewage in Meaford. The magnitude of the changes which have occurred over the last few years are quite beyond reason, and must surely be facing those on fixed incomes with a very difficult situation. After all, water, and the corresponding sewage treatment, are essential to a healthy life. This is all the more ironic for a community on the shores of one of the world’s largest freshwater lakes, which provides a free source of the liquid resource.

In order to better understand what has been happening I compared my personal utility bills from 2006, when we moved to Meaford, with those of the same month in 2014, and in order to focus on the magnitude of the changes I eliminated the effect of the quantity used, so that the gross rates per cubic meter or kW hour are used for comparison.

There are of course costs associated with processing and delivery, as well as maintenance. The cost of electrical energy for pumping and processing must be taken into account.

For comparison the change in rates for electricity and for natural gas over the same period, as extracted from my utility bills, are shown:

There are many ‘smoke and mirror’ factors at play, particularly due to the actions of the Ontario government in the electricity market, so I have simply used the total billings (less taxes) divided by the amount used, to give a straightforward view of the overall situation. Creative accounting factors, such as ‘delivery’, ‘regulatory charges’, ‘debt retirement’, etc. are thus all folded into this comparison.

Now, breaking down the Meaford Water and Sewage Rates, we see the root causes of the problem are large and growing increases across the board:

These are rates of increase which are unreasonable and can not be allowed to continue unchecked. I hope that you and the new council will address this issue and find ways to relieve Meaford residents of this mushrooming burden, and find ways to roll back the excessive charges currently being levied.

We are aware of the daily stream of huge sewage trucks delivering their loads to the Aiken Street treatment plant from distant sources. As one of the larger industrial activities in the township, this could surely be a source of income for the municipality, which could offset the financial load on individual residents, especially those on fixed incomes, who can hardly be expected to make drastic changes to their water consumption and toilet usage to offset these increases. Reducing flush volumes and fitting economising shower heads may help, but they can only make a small dent in this scenario.

The cost burden of this basic utility needs to be examined and modified as it is out of line with other changes in the cost of living for Canadians. If necessary cuts should be made in the other Meaford services and overheads which, while they may be nice to have, are less vital to the fundamental health of its citizens.

Yours sincerely,

Anthony Sharp P.Eng., Meaford

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