Duluth City Council approves water-rate increase
June 25, 2012 at 7:00 pm in Duluth News Tribune
Residents of Duluth can expect another increase in their water bills come January.
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Duluth City Council approves water-rate increase
24 Comments
I was hoping there was going to be another utility increase. We haven’t had one in, well, since Minnesota Power I guess. It was in the recent past, I know that. But, I’m kind of disappointed because I still have some money left in my wallet. I think we need a few more utility hikes. It’s too much of a burden on my conscious having extra money to spend on frivolities like the mortgage, food, my kid’s school expenses, and many other things. Either Comfort Systems needs to raise their prices on natural gas or the garbage companies need to raise theirs, or both!
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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Cheer up, Dec. 21,2012 is right around the corner. You won’t need to buy Christmas presents.
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No! Just recently like in the past month or so I think it was, they totally recanted the mayan calendar that prophecied the end of days where Quetzalcoatl flies over the earth and fire rains down upon us from beneath his wings. I think we are doomed to have to keep on barely surviving so the 1% can continue to abuse us until the real end of days.
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Doh! I already spent my Christmas present allowance. How much longer will I have to suffer?
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Soon utilities in Duluth will be something that only the 1% will have.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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Great move by the city to attract people to Duluth!! The students will be so happy when they return to town in September to find out about these rental restrictions. I feel sorry for the families on Woodland Avenue if they ever want to sell their homes. NOBODY will ever buy them now for fair market value. What kind of family would want to buy a house on Woodland, the only market for those houses were that of investors. More foreclosures will be coming soon!!! Get a clue!!!
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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Poorly-rated. Like or Dislike:
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Merv, bitchin and complaining is just one way to deal with issues. I think most people know the situation could be worse. I know for a fact people complain when their water is shut off… so I think they know what the score is.
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“You should feel lucky to even have safe public drinking water in the first place”
Um, doesn’t the majority of the US has safe public drinking water. This is the US, not a third world country. What is BS, is that these municipalities have been spending money on other crap instead of spending money on the infrastructure, like Krause said, “You can’t fix the world in a 10-year window, after decades of neglect.”
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My comments are illegal, both lawfully and according to the DNT!
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Now I can keep a score card on how the city councilor in my district voted. Keep it up I want to be sure to have reasons to vote for or against. Kind of like the school board members.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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LOL!!! Mark…..very true! I wish every voter would do that….as Duluth voter’s seem to be very forgetful about how councilor’s and school board member’s vote…..the voter’s vote by name recognition….. by who the media endorses….and what names on the ballots have a ( D ) or a (I) for incumbant after their name…….always…..year after year after year…..some things hardly ever change. I would love for voter’s to vote OUT ALL INCUMBANTS….every election……till the candidates get the message from the voter!
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30 years of neglect and “Here we go”!!! First schools, then water, but its just beginning! I feel sorry for those who recently have lived in Duluth, not those who have said no to everything for the last 30 years. This shouldn’t surprise anyone.
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Only in America would people whine about having to pay for clean water….what a joke!
Hot debate. What do you think?
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Nice Timing. Worse disaster in city’s history (500 year flood) and the Council ignores this devastation and all the people who have lost so much by just heaping on a little more.
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The clowncilors should learn that by implementing tax increase after tax increase, fee increase after fee increase and utility increase after utility increase they are most definitely hurting the ones who generally can least afford the increases: renters. Every increase in operating costs of any kind is not paid by the landlord, it is passed through to the tenants. In this town we have a hugely disproportionate number of people living at or below the poverty line and those are the ones the clowncilors are really hurting. Maybe this is the city’s way of forcing the lowest income people out of town since those people are already paying a disproportionate amount of their incomes for housing. Way to go, clowncilors, hurt the most vulnerable. How can you sleep at night?
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Seeing as how the water system needs fixing….how about the next time a water main breaks, shut it off and drill a well on your own property. Don’t go laying a GUILT TRIP on something that needs to be done. You’re the first one complaining about people working OT to fix a broken main .
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Wow…Ulysses cares about low income people??? There must be some hidden agenda here. Oh wait….probably just some conservative propaganda again….what was I thinking??!!
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Mag: I care about ALL people, not just the poor, or just the rich. My beef with this rate increase is that it reflects decades of deterioration that was allowed by Dumbocrat control of this city while those Dumbocrats in control bloated government employment and benefits instead of properly taking care of the people they were hired to serve. Frankly, with HRA lowering the amount it will pay to subsidize a poor persons apartment and with landlords passing on all the tax and rate increases to the tenants we may in fact see an exodus of poor people because they will not be able to afford to live in Duluth. That may result in a more equitable balance in the income groups here in Duluth instead of, as at current, being so heavily skewed toward low income.
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Well good luck with that.
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Each year for the past 6 a 5% raise in rates. Now a 25% raise. I would like to see on paper where these monies will be used. We as a society in Duluth are now obligated to pay for the unwillingness of past having the courage to do their jobs and maintain a updated infrastructure. Even our current Mayor has to shoulder some of the blame for his no action 8 years on the council. Are repairs needed, I do not doubt….
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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Bob, Duluth used to have a low pressure natural gas system. It consisted of cast iron mains and steel service lines to houses. The system was in need of constant repair. In the late 70′s, early 80′s the low pressure system was gradually replaced by the new plastic high pressure system. It took 20 plus years. The plastic has saved Duluth millions over the years. Some of the water system has been replaced by plastic but there’s miles and miles left. You are right about making sure the money goes for what it’s supposed to. The water system has been neglected for far too long.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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Bob….I agree, as they do not have a budget for next year to affix July’s increase or January 2013 increase to….as of yet. I am fairly sure they will assign both of these increases to the 2013 budget,,,,,BUT, many times in the past, they had not earmarked tax increases to a budget….. (a particular project ).the tax increases went into the general fund…..and spent out of the general fund,,,,,,but not incorporating all or any of the tax increased portion to the particular project that they told the public it was going to be used for…..exclusively!
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