Water and Sewer Rates.
And the raising thereof.
That's a hot topic for the residents of the Village, most of whom feel that raising those rates in times like these was, well, unbelievable.
We did find that according to the Village Ordinances, the council did NOT need to hold a public meeting to raise those rates - they just needed to pass a resolution for same.
Most of the council members had the good grace to squirm in their seats when it was put to a vote. One in particular voiced strenuous objections to raising rates without a special meeting - only to be told, like the rest of us - that it's not necessary or mandatory.
Perhaps not, but holding a meeting about this issue to explain the 'whys' and 'wherefores' would have gone a long way toward engendering some trust between the residents and their elected officials.
Well, here's your forum.
Tell us what you're thinking.
You got to be kidding me. This sounds just like the past. We don't need it so we won't have it. If they keep having special meetings like that and the secret meetings about the police department, they will end up with the same reputation like the last group.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way. When I ran for council I agreed with you. I still feal the same way. Im tired of being told we dont have tooo. Well I dont care. I want to keep the public informed. However sometimes your out ruled and can only stand your ground.
ReplyDeleteThe SCH questioning the current village president, council, and manager?
ReplyDeleteHmmmmmmm.
But supporting the questionable actions - or lack of actions - of the SDDA?
Hmmmmmmm.
and slamming the former township supervisor was tried for assault?
Hmmmmmmm.
What does that tell us about the blog writer?
Hmmmm?
I don't think the post about Allen was a slam. It was just a report about what happened. We asked for local news, looks like we got it.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the SCH slamming anyone, they are pretty fair about the 'slamming' it gets spread around. I think it will keep people on their toes. And I still don't care who writes this thing as long as they keep writing this thing.
maybe if the residents "went" to the meetings there wouldn't be what they are calling "secret meetings". They are not secret, EVERYONE is welcome to attend. Go see for yourself!!!
ReplyDeleteWe can argue till the end of time who's right and who's wrong. We have this increase to our bills and we just accept it. Thats pretty much the norm for most of the people in the village, so thats why the council has done it this way for years. Being more involved is something that most people just don't want to do, but they could ask questions like why did it take two village employees today to water the flowers on the poles (one had a coffee in his hand). Maybe if we could just ask simple questions like that we might not have increases in the bill and maybe there could be change.
ReplyDeleteThe worst thing about raising the rates was not just raising the rates, but if you read further there are automatic rate increases slated for each year. By doing this, the Council is not the bad guy but the index they tied it to. If the Consumer Price Index goes up by 5 percent, so do our bills. Ouch, automatic taxation without representation.
ReplyDeleteHAHAHA...no unposted meetings. Riiiight.
ReplyDeleteThere is a differace between a tax and a fee. You are fee'd without representation all the time. Anybody ever heard of consumers energy? Or maybe if your worked for a union represented company and you had automatic increases due to time in service, bet you didn't care then. let's get with it folks, our little cummunity is spent out and the council doesn't have the luxgury of cashing in a few CD's of over charging the DDA. When you come to meetings you will see folks that take this job serious and have the residents in mind for every decission they make.
ReplyDeleteWow. What a stupid thing to say. Money out of a pocket is money regardless of if you call it a fee or a tax. The end result is the resident has less and the village has more.
ReplyDeleteluxgury?? cummunity? *sigh*
ReplyDeleteThis is a council(village president) that seems to do exactly what he said he would not do. There has been unposted meetings. Raising fees and taxes as I recall were several of these things. Do they not realize how many people are on fixed incomes or living at or below the poverty level? Stockbridge has never been a community of the well off and at this rate never will be.
ReplyDelete