Atlanta Water Bills (apartment, house, live in)

[DONNIEANDDONNA417]

Atlanta water customers paying more to get their bill | www.wsbtv.com

why is the city of atlanta getting away with this?...they have no accountability for the high cost yet they seem to keep rising. They are the highest in the nation? What is up with that?

[testa50]

Water rate reading costs should definitely be made more accountable and the city should clamp down as much as possible. That's just a deadweight loss to everyone except people who read the meters.

As for the rates themselves, the city is in the process of a $4 billion sewer repair that needs to be financed through water bills. You can do the math yourself, but that's about $10k per city resident--basically long-term financing of a car for every man, woman, and child in the city. If you think about 4% interest, the payment comes out to around $30/mo per person that needs to be spent on the sewer repairs (keep in mind a huge chunk of water used is not household water...I would assume more than half).

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by testa50

You can do the math yourself, but that's about $10k per city resident--basically long-term financing of a car for every man, woman, and child in the city.

The thing is, I feel like some of us financing a whole fleet of cars, whereas a good many of those men, women and children aren't paying much at all.

[testa50]

Originally Posted by arjay57

The thing is, I feel like some of us financing a whole fleet of cars, whereas a good many of those men, women and children aren't paying much at all.

I don't understand. I was under the impression everybody pays for water.

[DONNIEANDDONNA417]

well i dont but i live in an apartment...but when i had my house i did pay water. I lived in austell and my bill was no more than 60.00 per month. The question is why is it so high in atlanta but not so expensive in other counties?

[testa50]

Originally Posted by DONNIEANDDONNA417

well i dont but i live in an apartment...but when i had my house i did pay water. I lived in austell and my bill was no more than 60.00 per month. The question is why is it so high in atlanta but not so expensive in other counties?

The cost to read the meter or the water bill itself?

The cost to read the meter is most likely high due to some sort of government non-accountability or waste. The higher than average cost of the water itself, as I've said, is due to the fact that the City of Atlanta is spending billions upgrading its sewers, and only a small number of people are paying for it.

Since the article says that the cost per customer per year for reading the meter and generating bills is like $25 compared to $10 elsewhere, that is obviously a lot higher, but only like $1 more a month. So its not a major part of the reason Atlanta's water is expensive. Most of the reason is that Atlanta is spending billions on sewer upgrades (mainly due to the fact that past political leaders ignored the problem and they snowballed). The city apparently exhausted federal funding avenues.

[DONNIEANDDONNA417]

yes but arent the upgrades suppose to save money?

I think its just greed...city of atlanta is making percentages for being late paying...paying your bill online cost $4.50..not to mention all these other cost. Then charging someone thousands of dollars for a gushing leak that they have no control over? Thats just wrong.

[testa50]

Originally Posted by DONNIEANDDONNA417

yes but arent the upgrades suppose to save money?

Not really. They're because the system was completely screwed up and was releasing lots of sewage into the river system. The federal government kept making Atlanta pay impact fees, which were basically bound to go increase into perpetuity--I guess from that standpoint it is a way to save money.

[arjay57]

But where do they get the money?

I guess you are right but it seems like I just pay and pay and not necessarily everybody does.

[Brillemeister]

arjay has a point.