Taxpayers, who have paid for installation of water systems and their maintenance for decades, do not receive a fair rate of return on their investments. It's analogous to charter schools buying up public school buildings - whatever price is paid, the public no longer owns the facility, or the real estate, they've poured money into. It's an asset that is lost forever.
Water is a public good, and should be owned by the citizens via their local municipality or county. That said, A LOT of water systems in the nation are in dire need of millions of dollars in infrastructure improvements per system, which will total BILLIONS of dollars across the county. The local residents are going to have to fund these improvements somehow, but it probably should be done via tax raises rather than water bill increases, or some combination. But either way, it will still be cheaper for the citizens if the municipality runs the system without a profit motive. With a public water system, the cost is really just the operational costs of staff and infrastructure. Customers pay for what it takes to sanitize the water and get the water to the house. In a private system, customers pay for that plus whatever profit the company can squeeze. I say all this as a southern, Christian conservative. Our American political compass is moving in crazy ways.
You can’t undo this thinking ..
looks like tap water and child labor laws. are being revamped not in a positive fashion
A reminder:
https://open.substack.com/pub/soberchristiangentlemanpodcast/p/fyi-documentaries-the-corporation?r=31s3eo&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
Taxpayers, who have paid for installation of water systems and their maintenance for decades, do not receive a fair rate of return on their investments. It's analogous to charter schools buying up public school buildings - whatever price is paid, the public no longer owns the facility, or the real estate, they've poured money into. It's an asset that is lost forever.
Privatizing water is a terrible idea.
Water is a public good, and should be owned by the citizens via their local municipality or county. That said, A LOT of water systems in the nation are in dire need of millions of dollars in infrastructure improvements per system, which will total BILLIONS of dollars across the county. The local residents are going to have to fund these improvements somehow, but it probably should be done via tax raises rather than water bill increases, or some combination. But either way, it will still be cheaper for the citizens if the municipality runs the system without a profit motive. With a public water system, the cost is really just the operational costs of staff and infrastructure. Customers pay for what it takes to sanitize the water and get the water to the house. In a private system, customers pay for that plus whatever profit the company can squeeze. I say all this as a southern, Christian conservative. Our American political compass is moving in crazy ways.
The PA legislature has been wildly clueless for years.