Higher water bills to cover the deadbeats
Do you feel you are drowning in high water? Water bills, that is. Rates went up again as of Sept. 1.
The average household water and sewer bill in Philly was $45 a month in 2006. Today it is nearly $100.
You pay $1,200 a year for water service. To me, that kind of money should pay for your water bill and your property tax.
Politicians scream about “affordability.” It isn’t just gasoline. How about the anchors on your back like your monthly water bill and property tax?
I am a senior living alone and practicing conservation, and I now pay close to $1,000 a year for the privilege of taking a bath and flushing the toilet.
I bet many seniors have to cut back on essentials like medications just to pay their ridiculous water bill.
Why are these bills so high? The Water Dept. claims it needs all this money to pay for replacement of old infrastructure. That’s not correct.
My research indicates there are over 196,000 Philly households who do not pay their water bills or are behind in payments.
Just think, almost a third of the city is not paying its water bill. That is why the costs are dumped on your back.
Another big problem is that the Water Dept. has long been its own little kingdom, not funded like other city departments. Its nice offices, training and trips come right out of your bill.
When Alan Butkovitz was Controller, he made a big deal over poor management and collections — apparently nothing has changed.
Time to roll back any cost increases. Time for a new audit – and please, publish the result so we can all see how we are being drowned in bills while leaving our bank accounts a desert.
Richard Iaconelli
Rhawnhurst
ACA responsible for Social Security woes
All you hear is how Congress is kicking the Social Security can down the road. It’s going to be insolvent in the early 2030s. Well let’s see what Congress has done to cause some of the problems with the system. Let’s take a look at one part – Obama’s ACA. The part that is really irksome is the mandate to cover children up to age 26. That affected two things. First it increased the parents’ cost for their insurance coverage. No. 1 it took the children out of the workforce. Under the previous system you were covered until you graduated high school. If you decided to go to college you were basically covered until 23. At which time you joined the work force at 19 or 23 to get insurance coverage and started paying into the Social Security system. Under ACA the Social Security is losing with 7 years or 3 years of payments.
When you go back in time I remember my friends working full-time jobs and going to night school. Now you basically see that occurring today if someone is going for a master’s degree. It seemed to be a rule of thumb in the ‘60s and ‘70s for a B.A. It took 5 to 8 years to complete your studies. Don’t hear of that very often today. They started after high school and graduated in their mid-20s. Today kids are still on their parents’ insurance giving them the wherewithal to enter the workforce at a later date.The ‘60s and ‘70s kids were paying board.
It’s interesting to look up your income record with Social Security and realize that when you finally achieve your year of eligibility you paid in for 51 of your 67 years. How often will that occur for the 15-year-old today? It was the norm 60 years ago. There’s a good chance that children living at home on their parents’ insurance will probably only pay into the system for about 40 years. Obamacare basically is taking 10 years off of Social Security payments. Social Security will never make up that shortage unless changes are made in the system.
Richard Donofry
East Torresdale
