City council approves water rate increase proposed by SAWS
This is a win for SAWS and SAWS External Consultants but not for San Antonio Water System rate payers. It plans for another $1M Increase to the Affordability Program, in which people apply for a partial rate reduction or even full water bill subsidy.
The rate increase enhances a socialized program to subsidize SAWS customers. Water access is a right and people should have access to clean water and a reliable septic system. But why are we increasing rates and promoting an expensive subsidy? Fewer rate payers mean that the actual rate payers will be paying for the ones who can’t. This becomes another covert, indirect tax.
Proof is that taxpayer money will be used for City Council to promote the Affordability Program and the Project Aqua big government social programs in addition to the SAWS rate payers subsidizing water costs for those who can’t afford it via the two aforementioned SAWS programs.
Has anyone calculated the ratio of new customers to the number of existing customers who will no longer be able to afford the higher rates and will go on the socialized program?
Does anyone realize that as these rate increases continue, more and more people will be getting in the socialized programs putting ever increasing pressure on the remaining rate payers? With this current course, what is going to stop the almost perennial rate increases?
There used to be an understanding that many hands lessen the burden. It seems we’ve forgotten this philosophy.
Hold on to your wallets as taxes are increases in water, septic, real estate, etc. How bad does it have to get before we say enough. Government bureaucracies either need mandated accountability of efficiency and transparency or more competition to allow the market to clean up the irresponsible bureaucracy.
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