Water Rates (Dis)harmony in Ramara

Ramara council meeting in General Committee on April 23rd voted 4-3 (Dep. Mayor Clarke, Ward 1 Clr. White and Ward 3 Clr. Neher voting against) to approve the ’07 water rates. As a result for those of you in Ramara privileged to be served by municipal water, depending on where you reside, you could be paying somewhere between $450 and $1350 a year for your water.

These differences in rates resulted when councillors voted down the proposal by Deputy Mayor Clarke to consolidate all existing debts and surpluses. This would have established a unified rate of $479 a year for all users. Ramara had never unified its network of 8 separate wells. Sites fewer subscribers per well had to carry a greater burden of the costs to build and maintain those wells and therefore some wells now carry outstanding debts, while other sites are in the black, and their new water rate reflect the fact they carry no outstanding debts. A consolidated rate would have pooled all existing debts and surpluses, dividing the remaining debts equally among all existing water users.

Council voted along the lines of the haves (those large settlement well-sites) and the have nots (smaller isolated wells). Mayor Duffy though he does not represent any single ward, and should have been factoring in the concerns of all users, represented the swing vote. He voted against creating a unified rate. Had council passed the consolidated water rate, it would have gone a long way in creating greater harmony among the various settlement areas in Ramara.

Harmony within the township’s isolated communities, is a theme that appears rather frequently in recent township propaganda as it tries to promote the benefits of expanding municipal wastewater services to the village of Brechin. Benefits that the township feels should result in the use taxpayer dollars to pay some of the capital costs of the expansion. Witness some recent passages made by the township:

“…. To promote innovative partnerships and joint participation among our citizens….”

“….. I am asking the community to contribute (to the Brechin Sewer expansion) to make this settlement (Brechin) a Stayner or Elmvale.”

How has councils actions tonight moved Ramara in the direction of harmony? To me it shounds hypocritical to say on the one hand the community should not fund the costs for water, while on the other hand they say the community should fund the costs for sewers.

If anything good came from tonight’s actions by council, it clearly defines a precedent for any funding of the capital costs for the Brechin Sewers expansion.
Council actions clearly state that it is the individual users (residents of Brechin) and not the community (Ramara ratepayers) who should pay all capital costs. Therefore it would be hypocritical for council to approve any further use of ratepayer taxes to extend sewer service to Brechin.

I would now expect council to ask the users of the sewer network to return to general ratepayer the approx. $500 000 in taxes that have been used to finance various studies and requests for funding. Let’s consider the $500 000 to be an interest free loan, payable over the next 25 years.

($500 000 / 179 Brechin users today) / 25 years = $112 per year from each location in Brechin given back to all ratepayers in Ramara. Of course this number will go down if the supporters of “if you build it, they will come,” (Duffy, O’Donnell and Bates), are right and the sewers start bringing lots and lots of investment into the Village of Brechin.

Thanks Ramara council for your actions to night. It has clarified the funding formula of the Brechin sewer expansion for all the other ratepayers. You have clearly stated that you are against using any ratepayer taxes to fund non-universal township infrastructure.

I hope you are consistent and act accordingly.