As reported on 11/25/2009 (see below), a continued weak economy combined with rising debt obligation is putting pressure on the Town Council to either increase taxes & fees or reduce costs. The Cary Watchmen have made numerous recommendations this year where such savings can be found, without requiring substantial reductions in the Town’s facilities and services and “Quality of Life”. Watch this web site for more recommendations in the coming days. The first of these recommendations is to reconsider last week’s approval of a $17m electronic water meter (AMR) program:
#1 Cancel the $17m Automatic Water Meter (AMR) Program
The Cary Town Council (excluding Councilman Don Frantz, who wisely voted against it) recently approved the replacement of all residential water meters with new electronic meters capable of reporting our usage on an hourly basis. The objectives of this $16.7m project were to (1) eliminate ten meter readers at a savings of $600,000 annually; (2) detect leaks to save residents money and to conserve water. The Cary Watchmen have proposed a far simpler alternative that actually saves taxpayers money while achieving the same goals: (1) switch to quarterly meter reading, saving $400,000 annually; (2) teach residents through a simple one-page flier how to read their meters and detect leaks at any time. See here for details.
Total Savings in First Year: $17,100,000
Total Savings in Subsequent Years: $400,000
