The people of Colorado Springs have a “greater voice” on issues involving Colorado Springs Utilities since Mayor Steve Bach came into office.
That’s the gist of an email that a Colorado Springs landlord sent to the city’s Communications Office Tuesday morning.
“We live in Georgia for now, and I wish I was there to review the CSU budget and speak up about CSU budgets in front of Council. When I lived there, we made an effort, but CSU was always stronger than the public comments and typically got what they wanted,” Marge McCarthy said in the email.
“From what I have read about the Strong Mayor, and the new transparencies, I think the public has a greater voice,” she said.
The Communications Office shared the email with The Gazette and other print media.
“I know that there are some print folks writing about Utilities issues right now, so I just wanted to pass (it) along,” city spokesman Jarred Rego said in a telephone interview.
Here is the full text of the email:
Bravo!
Even though I don’t live in CS right now, we own a home there that we rent. We wrote into our lease that we will pay 30% of water during the summer months in an effort to keep the tenants watering the lawn.
We live in Georgia for now, and I wish I was there to review the CSU budget and speak up about CSU budgets in front of Council. When I lived there, we made an effort, but CSU was always stronger than the public comments and typically got what they wanted.
From what I have read about the Strong Mayor, and the new transparencies, I think the public has a greater voice.
In August, I came back to get our home ready for new tenants. For about 3 weeks in August, we placed utilities in our name and the bill for 3 weeks was just under $400. It was quite a shock, but somewhat expected. The September portion of WATER ONLY from the tenants’ utilities bill is $170, that is water only. (I wish we could xeriscape more, but the appeal is to have a yard that is user friendly, so that is what we have…bluegrass.)
Anyway, CS always used to boast about low utility costs, but somewhere along the line that went out the window. I would love to have the opportunity to review the CSU budget and find savings, but I don’t live there right now and doubt anyone would listen to me from Georgia, even though we plan to move back someday.
I am grateful to Mayor Bach for being a Strong Mayor. The moniker fits and I like the changes that I have read about.
Carry on,
Marge McCarthy
Below is the latest comparison of water rates for communities along the Front Range. Colorado Springs falls in the middle of the ranking. Denver and Pueblo tend to fall on the lower end of the chart because they have rivers that bring the water to their community. Colorado Springs must pay to maintain and operate an expansive system (located in 10 counties) just to get the water to our community from across the Continental Divide.
Monthly bill comparison is based on 1,100 cubic feet (8,228 gallons) usage.
Woodmoor – $97.06
Woodmen Hills – $68.66
Lakewood – $59.47
Donala – $57.09
Aurora – $55.42
Cherokee – $52.01
Fountain – $49.79
Widefield – $46.40
Colorado Springs – $46.25
Fort Collins – $33.17
Colorado Centre – $32.29
Denver – $27.23
Pueblo – $24.24
Colorado Springs Utilities electric rates are among the lowest in Colorado. Monthly bill comparison based on 700 kilowatt hours usage.
Average investor-owned utility – $99
Average co-op utility – $93
Average municipally-owned utility – $84
Colorado Springs Utilities – $78
Dave Grossman
Colorado Springs Utilities
Dave – thank you for the facts.
Some people in this community seem intent on making a case for selling off all or part of Colorado Springs Utilities. It might well provide the municipal government with a one time jackpot to avoid having to implement a sustainable revenue source. But in the long run the community will see higher utility costs and lower reliability. It is too bad that so many are willing to jump on the mayor’s bandwagon.
Marge, if the water bill for your renters for was $170 for one month then your renters are WASTING a TON of water! There is no way the bill can be that high unless there are 4+ people in the house taking a shower or bath every day, doing laundry every single day, watering the grass every day…. CRAZY. Learn to conserve more and YES, xeriscape your front yard at least. I did and I am glad that I did. I can tell you that for a household of 3 people our water bill rarely exceeds 70-80$ a month and that is only if we water our back grass a lot in the summer. Now Marge, why don’t you tell us what you pay for utilities in Georgia??? Yeh, that’s what I thought.
Marge – Utilities continues to be as transparent as always. Your perceptions of more transparency are based on more press, most of which is negative and stirred up by a mayor intent on asserting his views through the press and not engaging in direct conversation with Utilities leadership or even attending Utilities board meetings. What’s the real story? The mayor wants to fill city coffers by selling off assets paid for by past generations to the detriment of future generations. Anyone reading this, please watch this video to understand the real issues…
http://video.pbs.org/video/2132368113/
Does the gazette ever think on its own, or just print what its told.
What is this insanity that is hitting Colorado Springs to sell or lease its assets? All of a sudden we as a city are incapable of running a city enterprise? CSU has been running fine without the help of outside management. Do I have a complaint or two with CSU? Yes! But I’ll keep it because the alternative is worse.
The customer service is outstanding and electrical/water repairs are done promptly. The rates aren’t too shabby in comparison to other parts of the country. Should CSU purchase natural gas from a commodities desk in New York? No! Why isn’t CSU working with our closer gas producers for better pricing?
A note to those who want to sell off the city’s assets and privatize the rest—it doesn’t work. There are those that follow the Milton Friedman School of privatization and free enterprise. Milton’s ideas are incompatible with a democratic society and only work in a dictatorship. People around here cry “Freedom” and “Free Enterprise” and “Let the free markets work” but the sad truth is that if we allow theses divestitures to continue we will end up with a very ugly situation that heads the community in the wrong direction.
Whoooo here! Don’t want to be giving the public too much “voice”! The public is notoriously fickle! If we let it have too much voice, we are only asking for problems.
How does Mayor Bach gives more voice if he never attends a CSU Board meeting and even knows the budget and regulatory processes or how decisions are being made?
Thank u for the facts!