Math still doesn’t work
Dear Editor:
Last December I sent a letter to “The Outlook” regarding the raise announced for the Town of Outlook utility bills, breaking down all the different fees that were going up and their impact for some estimated consumption. The Town was gracious enough to publish a public response. I hope I was the only one who didn’t buy their math.
According to their calculation, the 65m3 per quarter is the average consumption in an Outlook random sample. With that consumption, a household who paid $836.20 for Town utilities in the year 2019, will jump to $1,107 in 2020, $1,280 in 2021, $1,445 in 2022 (over $120 per month). In that same period, the garbage collection fee will triple, and the recycling/reserve charge will go back to the 2019 value, at which point hopefully someone will wonder whether the closure of the recycling depot made sense, since the recycling expenses will apparently reach the same level, but with $0 revenue for the Town, as opposed to some small revenue which was coming from the depot.
The Council may find that right, I strongly oppose that view. In moments when the oil price, which support a big portion of the economy and jobs in the Prairies has fallen to historical levels, when millions of Canadians are collecting employment insurance after losing their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and many more may lose them over the economic uncertainty it causes, when all levels of government are trying to support struggling Canadian families with financial help and bills relief, this Town chose to raise utility bills and add a bolden threat to those who can’t pay it: “Service will be disconnected on 15-MAY-2020”. That is not just wrong, that is disgraceful.
Respectfully,
Roberto Camba Baldomar
Outlook, SK
