Fairfax Water proposes a rate hike
Fairfax Water is proposing a rate increase, which it says should add about $1.93 per month for most customers.
According to Fairfax Water, the increased rates are necessary to cover rising costs for electricity, water treatment supplies, pipes, and project materials. Inflation is increasing capital and operational costs for water utilities nationwide, the company states.
The Fairfax Water Board will hold a public hearing on the rate increase on Dec. 11, 6:30 p.m., at 8570 Executive Park Ave., Fairfax. Customers can submit comments by midnight on Dec. 10 to [email protected]. Include your address.
If the new rates are approved, they will take effect on April 1.
Fairfax Water also proposes higher fees for new service connections, meter installation, peak usage, and restoring disconnected water service.
As a not-for-profit water utility, Fairfax Water says it only charges what it costs to “help cover the costs of producing about 170 million gallons of safe drinking water per day and maintaining Fairfax Water’s $2 billion water infrastructure.” That includes pumps, water mains, and water service lines.
The cost of pipes and other materials increased 85 percent in the past five years, Fairfax Water says, while the cost of electrical equipment is up 61 percent, and the cost of treatment supplies increased 40 percent.
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My rent raise is the highest I’ve ever had in January , dominion power says they want 11% more a month, Washington gas tagged on extra fees when they thought they weren’t getting enough , now here’s Fairfax water and healthcare has also raised rates recently not counting what’s happening at stores nationwide. It’s like all of a sudden everyone is saying they want more. Just seem like it’s a “well if there getting more , we want more attitude ” – seriously ? Could you leave a little something for us ?🤪
Increase the minimum wage, increase / continue planned temporary healthcare subsidies, and more government spending and requirements all combined to increase the cost of doing things thus inflation goes up. Cutting government spending, reducing regulations, and stop the silliness of trying to legislate outcomes. That would help reduce inflation.
This is greed at it’s finest from all these Corp thugs to help destroy the middle class. They want to squeeze every last cent you have.
The caveat to this is that it says Fairfax Water is a not-for-profit utility. I wasn’t even aware of that myself until just now.
You could argue and maybe look into CEO/executive pay for Fairfax Water and see if they’re fairly or unfairly compensated or how much of the revenue goes towards overhead vs towards actual operation and maintenance of the infrastructure in the county.
But they’re not squeezing us to pay out investors like other publicly traded companies.
Everything is going up, but $2/month is more reasonable that pretty much everything else seems to be going up. Most utility operation materials are manufactured overseas, if the import tariffs stop, maybe we can forgo some of these hikes.