HUNTSVILLE, Ala — Water rates were still a topic of concern at last week's District 4 meeting, and even Councilman Bill Kling has his concerns. "This is one of the important issues," Kling shares. "I have some concerns about it, and I'm hoping other council members do, too. I'd like to see the council look at the accessibility fee, which is being charged for people just to be connected to the utility system."
According to Kling, a person who lives in a 1,000 square foot house has to pay the exact same dollar amount as a very affluent person who lives in a 10,000 square foot house. "The idea of raising that by about $4 per month for each household is something that I'm concerned about." Kling shares.
During the meeting, talks about a rate increase for trash pickup was brought up, and according to Kling didn't sit well with residents. "Well, recently the city council did authorize a consultant to do a rate study, basically to compare Huntsville with other communities, what we're offering and how we are," Kling shares. "I can make a guess, reading between the lines that that consultant's going to come back with recommendations that we raise garbage rates. Personally, I'm opposed to raising garbage rates. "
The city has been doing a lot since covid to keep up with the demand of a growing city; in turn, truck maintenance played a role. "We have a very good public works department, wonderful employees," Kling shares. "Those are some of the best people that you'll find in city government. They are working hard day in, day out. Problem is, we had problems during the covid where equipment would break down and it was impossible to get replacement parts. So certain pieces of equipment basically would have their parts taken in order to keep as many vehicles as possible on the streets."
Kling goes on to share how recent storms played a part. "In these last couple weeks, we've had some severe thunderstorm windstorms that have knocked down a large amount of tree branches all over the city," Kling shares "So public works, they're doing a great job. They're working really hard to catch you up on the tree branches and brush collection and people should just be patient with them. Those workers in many cases are going with 80, 90, 100-degree weather with a large amount of hot humidity."
Still, hikes are likely to come. "Again, I'm opposed to the hike." Kling shares. "There's nothing coming up immediately before the council but again, the consultant looking at all this, comparing us with other communities, I'm sure that there will be something that comes back and says that the city needs to raise its garbage rates, because in this separate enterprise account, you are subsidizing garbage, let's say, $4 million a year and that should be passed on to the ratepayers."
But according to Kling there may be another way. "We have great garbage service, and we need to keep it basically the way it is now," Kling shares. "Increase expenses. Let's use some of the growth of the city, including our sales tax, which has been growing great, which is paid for by our ratepayers anyway. Use some of that surplus money to help subsidize this increase so that we don't have an increase on our garbage collection bill."