Another ‘feel good’ story about how the city is looking out for us(?);
A reconfiguration of wastewater capacity limits has saved the City of Sioux Falls millions of dollars.
Average daily water flows to the Water Reclamation Treatment Facility were consistently over the permitted amount that was set back in 1979.
The City faced mandated new infrastructure which could have cost up to $20 million.
Instead, the city spent $200,000 for an engineering study, which concluded that the current facility could support higher capacity.
The capacity limits were raised from 13.4 million gallons of water flow a day to 21.
The increase rating was approved by the state in September and presented to City Council on Monday.
While I think this is super-fantastic, I’m still curious why our water and sewer rates keep increasing? Notice they say the ‘City’ has saved millions, not the residents of Sioux Falls. This kind of shit just pisses me off, cuz you know they are not going to pass the savings onto us, just spend it on more crap we don’t need. I would prefer they just kept this info secret instead of rubbing it in our feces.
It would at least be something to bring up the next time they decide to increase rates.
Sure, while all the department heads sit around and go, “Ah, not sure what you are talking about, we’ll have to get you those numbers later (if they really exist).”
It isn’t like they really saved anything. They just don’t need to spend money to expand the facility. In fact, one could argue we are still stuck paying for the $200,000 study, so we spent a little money in order to not have to spend a lot.
You sound like Mrs. Costner when she finds something on sale. “Oh look honey I saved 40%!”.
No dear – you spent 100% than you otherwise wouldn’t have if that damn thing wasn’t on sale. You don’t get a medal for that and our bank account is still lower than it would have been.
You’re not receiving a refund because development never actually pays for itself or its own way.
Yeah, no shit.
Sioux Falls has some of the cheapest water and wastewater rates in the country. Just wait..SF will see major increases in water and sewer charges in the next five years as will all SE south dakota communities (Lewis and Clark). Theoretically water should be more expensive because it is a finite resource. Higher water rates will discourage residents from watering their lawn at 2:00 in the afternoon in 95 degree weather. The City of SF should be much more aggressive with their rate increases.
I agree on one part of that. I think water rates should be based on a sliding scale with how many people live in your home. My bill is cheap, because I don’t use much, so I think I should be rewarded with a cheaper rate and people who want to waste 1000’s of gallons on their precious lawns should have a higher rate. Not only would this encourage conservation it would actually raise more money for the city.