More About Water Rates

Yesterday's post was rough at the edges. More needs to be told. Few around when the Region was created, are still here to tell the tale.

Before Region, we had our own wells .Numbers of them . Water used by town departments was minimal.

The Town Hall was an old bank building on Yonge Street. We had less than a half -dozen people on staff there.

One toilet upstairs and one down served the needs.

The works department was a couple of battered and rusty old quanset huts on Wellington Street. There would be a toilet or two in there and I'm pretty sure, a shower of sorts.

We had one community centre with maybe three full-time staff and a bunch of rink rats.

There were probably more toilets and showers there than anywhere. They weren't much used on weekdays.

We had a traffic court in the auditorium ,with a magistrate,cops and various other miscreants from ten to four during the week.

We had the Firehall. They had a room at the back which, I discovered years later, was a bit of a watering hole for various people in the know. The Fire Chief was the only full-time person on the payroll.

Water was ours. We found it. We pumped it. We treated it. We created reservoirs. We distributed it.

The flat rate was so low, it hardly seemed worth sending out bills every three months. So they went out with hydro bills. We owned that too.

Revenue paid all costs and provided a stash to fund whatever small projects came along. Like an extra bay on the firehall. Money was borrowed from the reserve and paid back with interest.

Things were so beautifully simple. We only had three parks.I don't know if even schools were billed for water use. We owned them too. When students and staff were using facilities in the schools ,they weren't using them at home.

In those days, people who worked for the town, lived in the town.

When the region was created things didn't change right away. Ownership of wells was
transferred, But they were still the same wells and the same people using the water. We still had a flat rate user fee though it increased substantially.

When the new firehall was built, a weir was built on the creek to allow that water to be used for fire practice. I don't know if they're still doing that. We have a joint fire service with Newmarket. I mentioned it at fire committee last week but didn't get a straight answer.

But since then, My Goodness, how things have changed.

We have swimming pools. Numbers of them.

A summer ice facility at the Aurora Leisure Complex uses hundreds of thousands of litres of water daily for the cooling system. In the beginning, there was tin roof and the system worked overtime to accomplish its function. Then the roof was insulated. It still uses horrendous amounts of water, which still clean, is dumped into the sewer system and we pay for it to be treated as sewage.

We have a splash pad in the town park. I don't know if anyone knows the water consumption for that facility.But it certainly is substantial and more than before.

We have miles more streets to be washed. Hydrants to flush to keep pipes clean and clear. Dozens, maybe even hundreds of vehicles to be washed. Toilets flushing constantly in town facilities all over . The Mayor's office suite has a beautiful washroom facility complete with shower.

When I was Mayor, I had a room in the old town hall. A previous Mayor had rousted out a desk from storage and brought in an old carpet from the Queen's Hotel, his home on the north east corner of Yonge and Wellington.

I had to vacate every time the Clerk-Administrator needed it for a private meeting.

The Clerk's office had room for a desk ,two chairs and a filing cabinet .Some days you'd be hard-pressed to find him behind the stacks of papers on his desk.

It was within feet of Yonge Street and the papers would have a film of dust and black sooty specks . The stack on the file cabinets reached almost to the ceiling.

Preparing for an election, every year and then every two, battered metal ballot boxes would be scattered around . We literally had to climb over them to get around .

It was the norm. Nobody noticed the inconvenience.

Anyway, I know some town buildings are currently metered.

The question is, does the town bill itself for water used in tax-supported facilities and services? Or do we continue the practice of years ago.....when wells were ours.... flat rate charged to consumers was minimal ....and water used by the town was infinitesimal...and wasn't worth measuring?

Do we take the Region's charge for total consumption of water and simply calculate from that rates sufficient to foot the region's bill ?

That is not honest. People believe they are paying only for the water they use.They are encouraged to conserve.

When I asked the question, the answer was fuzzy. Like.... "there's an averaging factor".

Well I'm not sure that's good enough. I don't re-call any debate to signal a change. I would have noticed that.

There has to be a reason, besides size and population, why Richmond Hill's rate is hundreds of dollars a year less than our own.

When the answer is forthcoming, I will pass it on.

I just thought of something weird. I am asking questions I have never heard asked before.

I know how things were. I don't know for sure how they are.

Did the process for calculating water rates change with steadily increasing use of water by town departments ?

Or was it just not thought about?

Is the use still so insignificant it doesn't need to be thought about?

Does town staff have responsibility only to ensure sufficient funds are collected in water rates to pay the bill?

As they do in tax rates

Or when they state, water rates are not tax supported... are they not also obliged to ensure water rates do not subsidise tax rates?

Is it Council's responsibility, in a year when water rates increased by 12%, to look closer and make sure people are being fairly charged?

I think the questions are reasonable. I am one of nine. Why am I the only one interested in the
answers?