Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

Mr. SAUER??

Mr. NO NEW TAXES SAUER voted for it? You go boy!

Water rates are not taxes.

I think you are trying to compare apples and hand grenades. Water and sewer user fees are not taxes. They are user fees and they are dependant on how much water and sewer services you use in a month.

The Pickerington water and sewer rates had NOT been raised for 15 year prior to the current rate increases. The rates were below average in the area when compared to the Fairfield utilities and the other municipalities near the city's borders.

Whether you like it of not the Ohio EPA mandates the changes and the upgrades to the water and sewer plants. They have no sympathy for low rates and if the municipality fails to act they take over. They then charge you for all of changes they demand and or turn it over to an adjoining utilities provider. In either case the city rate were going to go up.

Normally these rates and the collections from these rates can only be used for what they were collected for. However as an earlier poster suggested the city found ways to give discounts to residential builders and in many cases after these annexations were completed the discounts came out of the general fund monies.

I believe in January we will see the third year of this five year plan to get the Pickerington water and sewer rates back in line with our neighbors. The city utilities will have enough money to complete the new sewer plant and to address the dissolved salt coming from the water plant that gets into Sycamore Creek during dry spells.


I don't believe Sauer was on council in May of 2006.

Council raised the rates.


I think we need to focus on the general revenues for the city not worry about the utility rates. They are two different issues. One is resolved the other is pending.

I belive Saur

was on the committe that reviewed the Water and Sewage rates and came up with the five year rate increase. This was his stepping stone to run for council.