I had hoped to attend Becki Gray’s talk in Waynesville tonight, but I fell prey to my own miscalculations, not the least of which was the assumption the rockslide detour was west of Waynesville.
I even left early from an Asheville City Council Finance Committee meeting. Staff had previously recommended an across-the-board 6% rate hike on water bills (consumption and capital improvement fees). Now, a 9% hike seems more aligned with cost recovery. It was recommended that council not speak in terms of percentages because numbers seem larger that way and they are more likely to scare the public. The city will look for a way to candy-coat 9%.
Some members of council are still interested in making water rates progressive. Water Resources Director Steve Shoaf wisely replied he would not touch that until maybe next year. He did not want to propose inverting the rate structure until he found out at what point it would induce what industry remains to also leave. Hospitals and schools are among the largest water users. The city’s largest water consumers keep leaving. The last largest consumer, the City of Hendersonville, will no longer be buying wholesale water. Councilwoman Esther Manheimer asked what could be done to get Hendersonville to buy Asheville water again. “Annex them,” replied Bill Russell, who voted against the twelve annexations currently under consideration out of deference to the people’s right to choose.
