INC NEWS - Upcoming Issues

[Mike - Hotmail]

These are right down INC's role as a provider of information and options to 
advocate for.

It was several years ago when many of Durham's neighborhood delegates to INC 
brought up different water conservation ideas and supported the use of rain 
barrels long before either of the recent droughts!

Why it takes an emergency situation to get some movement on those 
initiatives is no longer a luxury for anyone to delay again.

Both solid waste and yard refuse being shipped to Virginia continues to be a 
liability.

Solutions have been proposed and now it's up to the community to step up and 
support them or face the consequences of inaction.

But others besides the usual contributors to this listserve need to be 
heard.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "RW Pickle" <randy at 27beverly.com>
To: <inc-list at durhaminc.org>
Cc: <fhna-list at fhnanews.com>
Sent: Wednesday, December 05, 2007 12:25 AM
Subject: INC NEWS - Upcoming Issues


> Looming in the immediate future are two issues that merit attention.
>
> First is our current water shortage and Stage IV restrictions. For those
> who do not know, our water and sewer infrastructure is paid for by revenue
> bonds. These are bonds sold based on revenue. The less water you use (I'd
> like to say conserve, but the current system isn't modeled for
> conservation), the less the revenue collected is for water and sewer and
> the less that can be done in the future (or currently paid for). The
> current  bonds have already been sold, so they were based on previous
> revenue streams that no longer exist. Under Stage IV, this means less
> money coming in from revenue to repay those bonds. And that money has to
> come from somewhere. Perhaps some City/County administrator can give us
> the $$$ skinny on what we're looking at for a shortfall of revenue to pay
> this debt. And if this continues or gets worse, so does the revenue
> stream. It dries up like Lake Mickie has... The bonds still have to be
> paid for, but the anticipated revenue no longer exists.
>
> Future repairs/projects are also in jeopardy because the revenue is just
> not coming in (with water use down). And if rates go up to increase
> revenue to meet this shortfall, we'll all see a sizable jump in what we
> currently pay. It could be 100% increase depending on what lies ahead for
> infrastructure and repairs (at a 50% reduction of water use, it'll need to
> be an increase of 100% just to break even, so it could be more). These are
> multi-million dollar projects, so it needs a steady flow of money. Save
> water because of mandatory restrictions, pay more for using less. It's a
> messed up model and it's time to start rewarding conservation and
> punishing wasted resources. So what if you have 5 kids and use a lot of
> water. You get a federal tax advantage that folks without kids do not get.
> It's a ying/yang thing. It all works out in the end. Those who waste
> it/use it, pay for it. Those who conserve are rewarded.
>
> And while I'm on water, what about some property tax credit for those of
> us who collect/use rainwater? The Governor was talking about this
> recently. Why can't we move forward with this green-water-saving idea and
> reward those who will help? A one-time tax credit for property owners for
> having them would increase their use by a huge percentage. More credit for
> more collection and use. There are currently State/Federal tax breaks for
> solar. Why not a local one for water since it is becoming such an issue?
>
> The second thing that is scheduled for 2008 is the City-wide roll-out of a
> yard waste program. INC fought to make this a reality with a number of
> INC'ers attending countless hours of meetings (back when Solid Waste cared
> what we thought). So as time moved on, this idea found itself into the
> budget stream and is scheduled to happen next year. It'll be tax based, so
> no one will notice any special fees (except for a cart). Even if you don't
> use the service, you'll pay for it with your taxes.
>
> WHAT KIND OF SENSE DOES THIS CURRENTLY MAKE?
>
> None, unless we want to pay Virginia $39.50/ton (and more if the Virginia
> legislature passes a $.50-10.00/ton  tax for ALL waste for disposal coming
> across its' borders) to dispose of it for us. Now that we no longer have a
> yard waste facility, EVERYTHING collected goes to Virginia. And what kind
> of sense does it make to increase our fees in Virginia by rolling out such
> a plan now? It doesn't. It could break the bank at this point if the
> customer base increased from 18,000 or so, to around 65,000 (I'm not aware
> of the current subscriber or service figures). The yard waste disposal
> fees alone would be more than three and a half times what they are today.
> Not to mention the huge amount of carts necessary. I understand we'll be
> leasing them to cut costs, but there still is a cost associated with that.
> So maybe we should hold off on this roll-out until we have a better plan
> in place. Isn't there a better plan being worked on? I haven't heard of
> any. Even the hazardous waste disposal collection that we heard was going
> to expand collection in June hasn't happened. Now you can only drop off
> this toxic stuff for a very small window of time, one day a week (it was 2
> days back in the summer). What kind of sense does that make? And I'd like
> to see (here we go again with a tax credit...) some sort of rebate for
> those of us who have supported this program (and built it; last year our
> fees supported the current program). I guess with this new property
> valuation that we're going through, I'm looking for our government to give
> us something back... (or something better or more of either).
>
> Just things for you to consider as we move into a new year. We pay for all
> waste and inefficiency. We're the only ones who have a voice for the
> changes that are needed to be made. Use yours wisely.
>
> RWP
> 27 Beverly
>
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