Water rate increases are too steep

Hot on the heels of the recent astronomical fire insurance increases in the region, come the jaw-dropping increase in water rates proposed by the Midway Heights Country Water District effective Sept. 1 through 2024. A fact-sheet I received from an alarmed neighbor calculated rate increases of approximately 42-47 percent for customers purchasing both metered treated and metered irrigation water services for fiscal year 2019/20. The district is also proposing to replace the current two-tier treated water rate (use less, pay less), with a single rate. One of the many customers expressing outrage about the rate hikes on the neighborhood newsfeed, lamented that she was being penalized for conserving water."My previous month's bill I paid $2.15 per unit and future bills would increase drastically to $3.61 per unit — 67.9 percent increase." (To $4.08 per unit in 2024.)Those (like me) with a flat annual miner's inch charge of $119.98, will, by 2024, see their charge rise to $205.39 — about a 70 percent increase! And check your property tax bill — some of us are still paying off a 1990 Midway Heights water bond.Most Midway Heights customers recognize that rate increases are necessary to keep up with costs. However, the current proposed increases are alarmingly high, and will undoubtedly pose a significant hardship on district customers. The proposed rate increases will not go into effect if the district receives a majority of written protest from its customers — phone calls and emails do not count. Protest letters must be received by the Midway Heights Water District by Sept. 19. The protest letter must include the following: Your name (use the name on your bill), service street address or assessor's parcel number, a statement of protest and the signature of the property owner or the account holder. At the last rate-increase meeting, I was one of only seven customers who bothered to show up.Make your voice heard. Attend the public hearing scheduled for Sept. 19 at 7 p.m. in the Broadwell Room at the Meadow Vista Community Center, 1101 Meadow Vista Road in Meadow Vista.Pauline Nevins, Colfax