City again trying to grab money from its residents

The city of Fayetteville wants to levy another fee (aka tax) upon its water and sewer customers to cover costs of drainage improvements and maintenance. Fayetteville citizens should take a minute to look at the bottom of their water bill and calculate the fees/taxes already added to your monthly water bill.

Like a kid in a candy store the city wants more and more to whet the appetite for a good thing. Instead of increasing revenue at the expense of the already heavily taxed residents, it is time for the city of Fayetteville officials to look at decreasing the number and amount of fees, taxes, surcharges, etc., particularly in light of the fact that the last published Fayetteville financial statement showed approximately $90 million in surplus funds.

Could not some of the surplus funds be used for drainage improvements to supplement the amount of funds approved in the recent bond election? Are the drainage problems that much worse now than prior to the bond election when officials were studying and planning how much bond money to request and where the funds would be used? Fayetteville citizens stepped up to the plate to pass that bond issue and now the city wants more money in the form of a fee? Talk about double dipping!

A lot of drainage improvements could have been made with the money spent on the Old Wire Road bike lane and the Old Wire Road/Crossover trail and new bridge. Could Fayetteville perhaps impose upon the Waltons just one more time and request matching funds to make drainage improvements? If you think about it some of those improvements might be needed in part because of more and more paved bike trails placed on top of the land.

By focusing on the “candy” and not properly planning for and prioritizing Fayetteville’s needed improvements for managing drainage, city officials are now trying to put the onus on its Sugar Daddy — the Fayetteville citizens and taxpayers!

PAT TOBIN Fayetteville