Letter: Questioning STPUD’s rate increase plan
To the community,
I was so moved by our public utility company’s recent 8½ inch x 11 inch glossy mailer expounding about what a terrific job they are doing that I thought I would share my opinion of their performance.
Regretfully, I do not share their vision or theory. They proudly pat themselves on the back stating that their cost for service as being lower than the cost for similar communities, which may be true, however, I expect that the other communities do not have a 30 percent vacancy rate as ours does. Many of our neighborhoods are filled with second homes that are empty most of the year and yet STPUD still collects real fees for those services, imaginary or not.
It is my opinion that our public utility company appears to be in a race to catch-up to those other communities. Below is a graph of my bill over the past six quarters illustrating a 36 month projected path should the trend continue.
Comments welcome.
Mark Allione, South Lake Tahoe business owner
We are being fed garbage. Water rates are higher here than many desert communities, yet we are the source of the water. The often used term “infrastructure improvements”, can only be put back on management and board members that have been there for 30 years. Obviously not managing funds properly over the past 30 years. Drought or no drought we are being drowned by excessive water fees. Our second home owner situation allows them to do what they want because there is nobody here to challenge their rate increases. 2 very good board members can’t control over spending. I appreciate the many fine employees, but management and three board members need to go. Unfortunately just reelected???
The problem is this utility district has lost the confidence of many who they serve. The problem for them and it will eventually bite them in the butt is they are so insulated from the rate layer. When was the last time you ever saw the GM at a public event, community event? When has he ever given a public presentation beyond his board about what is going on. How about a community presentation for rate payers at the middle school were everyone can attend. The board has failed in it duty to direct the GM and staff to integrated and educate those they serve. All they do is sit up in the Taj Mahal. Even Rome fell they will too.
Isn’t a big part of the water rate equation the fact that we have to pump our waste-water outside of the basin?
Joby, don’t you have a family member that sits on the STPUD board?
I agree.
Just the fact that they wasted money to print the nice flyer tells me everything about them. They are political. Feed the public enough BS and they think we are stupid enough to believe it. Waste, waste, waste……..that is why they want to raise rates. Never mind new multi million dollar building, never mind employees caught sleeping on the job with no disaplinary action, never mind outrageous management salaries, never mind a lot of things, ,”just send the public pretty picture and tell them how great we are……they will believe.”
Jimmy please come to their defense. The public sector is out of control. STPUD is a shining example.
Well one of the newly elected board members ran on the platform ‘send a message’. So hopefully Mr. Wallace will fight to end these absurd rate increases?!
If there was the money to pay for him to just take a trip DC on behalf of STPUD, then that’s got to mean they’re not short of cash.
My brother serves on the board and does a great job! He is only one vote and I’m certain he is not going to make a career out of it. Just trying to bring a bit of common sense.
In regards to water rates having an effect on pumping sewer out of the basin…. That would be your sewer rate. You are charged separately for each. The rate payers with all due respect need to educate themselves so this nonsense ends.
The recent slick puff piece mailed under separate first class cover is just an example of the unnecessary waste that goes on at STPUD under the hapless oversight of a majority of the board of directors.
The other water companies I pay bills for in the real world simply enclose a one page newsletter in their bills already being mailed, at little or no additional expense. Like those enclosed in Liberty Energy’s bills. And fortunately most public utilities don’t see the sense in unnecessary advertising on the radio and newspapers. Where else are customers going to get their water or sewer services?
Duane Wallace won his seat with his campaign promise to “send them a message”. We’ll see.
Not only are $ being collected from vacant homes that are not flushing anything down the sewer for most of the year , but they are charging every home for 3 sewer connections , even if they only have 1.
this pissed me off and I drove to the STPUD office and asked about it.
The answer : well that’s just the way we do it. So one day you can add on to your single pooper equipped home.
HELLO ! I will not be doing that so why the …..k am I being charged for something I am not getting.
Perhaps we need to have meters counting the number of flushes ?
Water meters ?? Isn’t STPUD charging a meter rental fee on every statement !!!
Steve Buttling. I had a long discussion wih someone I trust, who explained to me we ALL need to pay for repairing water and sewage lines, even the people who are hardly ever here, at “Their Tahoe Home”. Sounds good. But….. on the other hand….
Half the homes on my street are vacant most of the time, yet they have to pay STPUD year round for a home that is rarely used so the water usaage is really very little. This does not seem fair to me.
But then again, maybe it all balances out. There was a nut job down the street watering a dead lawn while it was snowing just a few days ago! He’s out there wearing a ski hat and jacket, getting snowed on and watering a non existent lawn. Crazy!
Another day in So. Shore.
I don’t know what the answer is. Maybe STPUD should just bill the water wasters that I’ve seen all around town. OLS
I am sure the amount spent on outreach is minimal and that’s not where the problem is. The problem is a deeply ingrained culture that the organization in not accountable to the community at large but only a group of ineffectual board members. Again where is the genteral manager and his accessibility to the public? Compare that with the accessibility of the City Manager, our County supervisor, the police and fire chief. Mr. Solbrig may not be the right kind of leader for the times we are in.
When I visit family and friends outside of Lake Tahoe, my water guzzling habit is typically cut short because you can’t take a glass to their faucets, fill it, and drink it at their homes. For them, it’s plastic water bottles or filtration systems – all additional expenses. I’m very thankful for the quality water product we have and extra appreciative that the people who have the big, largely-unused homes (at least one with an indoor swimming pool) in my neighborhood share in the water delivery system infrastructure and maintenance costs; otherwise, there’s no way I could afford the bill! These systems allow second homeowners to turn on their taps when the town is busiest and still have water come out of it and it lets their water use change over time if they ever change the use patterns in their homes — it’s simply another cost of having a second home. And no, I don’t work for STPUD. I’m just a grateful customer (who also happens to have metered water).