Residents of Durango are being hit again with high summer water bills. Unfortunately, the city has not presented a believable explanation of this travesty.
Councilor Chris Bettin is committed to high rates and had the audacity to contend that council is doing a disservice by not raising the water rates further. Mayor Dean Brookie voted against keeping the water rates flat. It seems those two councilors can’t understand financial statements that show the city is budgeted to collect $8 million even though they only have $5 million of bills.
This nonsense has been going on since 2014. Luckily, the other three councilors stopped the latest proposed increase.
In this economic downfall, there are few resources that can shore up our economy. But council can use the water fund to inject millions into the community. The water fund sat on $17 million at the beginning of 2020. Staff talks out of both sides of their mouths when asked why they have this stash. Sometimes they say they will pay for improvements to the existing system and sometimes they say they will pay for the poorly planned Ridges Basin Water Treatment Plant. Assuming we actually need RBWTP, the correct method to fund a municipal project with long-term benefit is to issue debt, approved by the electorate. Future residents should help pay for any large project that has benefits in the future.
Until the city proves it responsibly spends our money, it should lower our rates and return millions to the ratepayers.
John SimpsonDurango
