A commentary in UNCA’s Blue Banner criticizes relief the City of Asheville received from the Sullivan acts. Again, the Sullivan acts are legislation depriving Asheville and no other North Carolina municipality of the ability to use its water system like a cash cow. The relief allows the city to use water department funds to improve streets and sidewalks disturbed by the laying of waterlines. The commentator suggests:
Rather, the state government should make a request to Congress for federal money to fix the roads and sidewalks, or come up with revenues from somewhere else that does not burden the taxpayer.
The commentator also supports equal pay for equal amounts of water. This may be a good idea, but almost all big industry has left Asheville for less regulatory climes. The remaining parties to be adversely affected by eliminating quantity discounts would include the schools and hospitals. But then, hospitals should be able to pay the new water rates because the federal government will run them on the free money collected by the IRS – unless citizens step in to effectively stop the madness.
