Duluth water rates will rise next month
June 6, 2012 at 7:00 pm in Duluth News Tribune
Duluth residents, businesses and industries will pay more for the water they use beginning July 1 and still more in January as a result of increases approved unanimously Wednesday by the Duluth Public Utilities Commission.
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GO Fossle! Hope he can pull this one off! These lines should been being taken care of throughout the years people, but like the school system, they weren’t and now they need the taxpayers to bail them out yet again! So this year, gas rates are down, so now lets make it up by raising everyone’s bills yet again, along with that stupid A** $5 fee for streetlights, next, they’ll be charging us per FLUSH! This town has become such a disgrace. Good luck trying to attract or hold onto businesses now idiots!
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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This town has become an unpleasant “Money-pit” and living here is a nightmare! Just saying.
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Mr Boyle your comment that we need thicker skin is an insult to me as a homeowner. Why does the burden go to the 2012 Duluthian? On top of the light fee, the red plan debacle, garbage rates, the parks & libraries and now this. As a single-family homeowner I’m fed up with the political rehtoric when we should be having community involvement to gather more ideas that might lead to a better solution. Homeowners like me can’t support the increase and will challenge the increase the commission deems appropriate. I hope the city council recognizes the impact and vetoes the current proposal.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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All this administration, city counselors and school board have done is thrown an increasing burden on the tax payers of this city at a time when the ecoomy is in a shambles. Do they honestly believe that all the added expense they have thrown upon the tax payer will make it more attractive for people to buy homes in this city or for even industries to consider locating here. I think not. What has been lacking here is what is afordable to the average tax payer and what is someones desire.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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I know we need to support repairs but there is a limit the average homeowner can withstand. Wages are quite simply not increasing to balance all the increases this community is adding on – water, lights, Red Plan, to name a few. And even when you don’t vote for a levy (the last levy request from the school board) they go ahead and raise taxes the maximum they can anyway. My taxes went up over 650.00 this year alone – which increases my monthly house payment. Who is looking out for the home owners here? I love my home in Duluth but quite frankly, theres only so much a person can budget before this community taxes & fees you out. Boyle & Judsrud’s comments are indeed insulting.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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NorShore millions while the pipes are crumbling. Take care of basic needs first.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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Nobody ever wants to pay for these things. Nobody would pony up in the past and now we are left with this. If we continue to just patch leaks it will cost substantially more in the long run. The other issues people bring up are irrelevant. Excuses. That’s is the behavior that got us so behind on maintenance.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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I don’t like the increase, but at least they’re saying exactly what the increase is for. I think Middle Man hit the nail on the head. Many of the people that came before us enjoyed low rates with few increases at the expense of maintaining the system. Now we have to pay. Unfortunately I feel it’s a common theme playing out all across the country. If I have to pay an additional $4 or $6 a month ($48 – $72 a year) to upgrade/maintain our current system I think I can swing that. I understand that for some people that’s a lot to ask. On the other hand, I have to think that decreasing the amount of breaks per year will have to end up saving money in other places. I would like to ask the counselors if those savings will be passed on to the citizens in some way. I guess this is what I would like to know:
1.) What is the current operating cost of the system (not counting breaks).
2.) What is the added cost of the breaks?
3.) What what annual cost to the rate payers of the breaks
If the cost of breaks is greater than the rate increase, than to me it’s a justified rate increase.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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yes Enron and you made the next point I wanted to make; people on this site keep talking about how if Duluth keeps raising the price of things it will make people want to move and make others not want to come here. This is not just happening here. It is everywhere in the good old US. Many places are worse off and facing bankruptcy. The formula: declining income + inflation + deferred maintenance
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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Trust me: once the NLX Bullet Express is operating and you’re on the rails, rocketing your way to a fantastic day shopping in downtown Minneapolis, you’ll completely forget about how you’re getting nickel-and-dimed by the City of Duluth!
Hot debate. What do you think?
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Like I said, Duluth has become a “Money-pit”!
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Years ago, I heard many people say, “why would anyone want to move to the cities, it is so expensive to live there.” Sadly, I am beginning to believe that is not the case anymore, and Duluth is becoming a more and more expensive place to live.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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Yes Nessopotamian, and so is everywhere else
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Why is it when something needs replacing or fixing the first answer is people will suffer, the old will have to go without heat and eat dog chow? Has anyone drank the water in Mpls or in Michigan? Its horrible to say the least and they pay as much for water as people in Duluth! We have some of the finest drinking water in the world and people are complaining about a lousy $3.00 increase to have it without interruption? Don’t forget to add in how much it costs when these old lines break at 5 PM or on a weekend and they have to fix them on overtime and repairs are like bubblegum on a bullet wound!
Still wanna complain?
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