All customers will share in an increase, as all customers will benefit, but those customers most responsible will pay the most. This is an established and accepted model for setting rates followed by most water utilities. He is far better at asking questions than understanding the facts. There are many misstatements in Ethridge's letter. The water utility operates separate from the electric, gas and transportation utilities.
Every attempt is made to avoid cross subsidization.
In fact, year to date the actual operating profit is 12.6 percent. Ask those people who are on water wells, or those living in the Western United States and in Florida, where water rationing is a fact of life. Make no mistake, there are always legitimate questions to be answered when a municipal utility proposes a rate increase. City Utilities will, as it has consistently done in recent years, respond in a factual, logical, and responsible way. Chris Nattinger, Springfield, is chairman of the City Utilities board.