Adrian Podolak
Marco Island
I don’t think condo rates should be lower than homes. The main reason is there is so much more usage going through the condo than a home, and much more water, also. So, they are taking up more than a single family home would be. I recently took a close look at my water bill. My base fee is about $22 for the water, $27 for sewer. My actual usage for water is about $6, and my usage for sewer is about $9, and, I’m getting a bill for $82. And that’s not just one month. I have been here for 18 years.
Mark Roberts
Marco Island
Local, working people typically are living in condos. There should be an incentive, in the form of lower tax and utility rates, for the locals that are employed here, rather than the owner, who is usually either abroad or seasonal. I live part-time in a ski town in Colorado, where it’s the same situation. Locals should have a financial incentive to stay there, whereas the absentee owner should pay the higher rate, or larger part. That’s how they do it in Dillon.
Sarah Ruehr
Marco Island
As a renter in a condo, I think that we should have lower rates, because that’s where we all live, as members of the workforce, while the homes are empty most of the time. People who don’t live in their single-family homes don’t feed the economy all year long like families and working people do. Absentee owners, who are just in and out during season, are not the majority of the population here, but I understand that they have to do it that way, because each unit is given a certain amount of usage per year, and the rate is set according to those figures. Also, the rates on Marco Island are somewhat high.
Catch of the Day: May 23, 2013
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 17
deltarome writes:
Let me understand the article's arguments-If you live here and use water and sewer everyday, you should be entitled to a lower base rate than a vacant condo or house?
The condo owner doesn't need to water their grass so they pay a lower total bill than an absentee homeowner who uses ALL of their water for irrigation and use NONE of the sewer utility. Since everyone with a home or condo doesn't won't have a well (and thanks to the condo owners-eventually no septic tank) or a septic tank they will need to use the island's sewer and water hookups.
Everyone should pay the same base rates and quit whining!
Vacant Lots should be only ones not needing to pay a monthly meter rate.
playballonK writes:
We need a Homeowners Org. started so that we can sue the city.
u2cane writes:
Homeowner's Organizations are nothing but trouble. It isn't fair that the rates are different though, there has to be a better way then to sue. When you sue, the only winners are freakin lawyers.
happyonmarco writes:
Condo owners poop costs just as much as house owners poop to process, I know their $h!* doesn't stink but it still costs money to process! Also, all members of the workforce DO NOT live in condos...
jwputnam writes:
There is a much larger problem looming. The old sewer (and water) pipes are leaking as reported on these pages. Who will pay for those pipes to be replaced?
The newly connected user has just paid somewhere around $20,000 plus for this new luxury. Should he now have to pay for the re-connection of the old users? I think not. They need to be treated as new users and assessed accordingly.
Now that is the beginning of a class action lawsuit one would think.
lauralbi1 writes:
John: Please elaborate as I don't understand your point. The condos have been on sewer much longer than almost 100% of the homes on the Island. They have been paying sewer charges since their inception, where homes have not. I am not talking about rates today, but historically. So they have already been paying for fixing these pipes that served them, "supposedly" if reserves were calculated properly.
I don't disagree that their rates should be based on their usage, the same as homes, except for the fact that most of home water usage is for landscaping that does not return to the sewer. Condos, when unoccupied do not landscape, except for the building itself. On a per capita or per unit basis, their water use is much lowewr than a home. We really need to come up with an equitable solution for this.
I just don't understand what you are trying to say and would like to.
Ed Issler
jwputnam writes:
There is only one equitable way to resolve the issue. Every gallon of water that enters the sewer system should be billed at the same rate, regardless of the users location (obviously). Single family homes should be allowed to install separate meters as is done everywhere else that I have ever lived. Condos could decide on their own billing system or actually install separate meters if they so choose.
Pretty simple really. I discussed it with Jim Lang a year ago, but he was very negative about it.
Bringing on new users to pay for a known problem is criminal in my opinion. The perpretrators should be ashamed, but there is no shame on Marco.
playballonK writes:
JWP don't respond to the village MORON.
The current sewer customers wore down the pipes and the current sewer plant to a pile of rust. The victims of the corrupt STRP project never had access to the use of these sewers. Built into their over inflated STRP costs(compare to Cape Coral @ $5k per)STRP victims are footing the bill for a product THEY NEVER USED...and here's the kicker- STRP victims are paying HIGHER sewer rates than those who wore out the system.
Class Action!!
jwputnam writes:
PlayballonK:
I COULD NOT AGREE MORE....ON ALL COUNTS!
lauralbi1 writes:
PlayballonK: You only show your cowardice and ignorance when you try to correspond and respond to people in the above fashion. I will not stoop to your level.
Anybody with any engineering sense or common sense knows that Cape Coral has over 5 times the users that Marco does. In addition, since they have had their political delays in hooking up, their connection fees have over doubled and keep going up every day.
Now to Marco which is what I care about. I agree with Mr. Putnam that condo users should pay the same rates at homeowners. I see no reason why meters at homes and condo buildings cannot separate out landscaping from internal use. Why don't we continue to pursue this subject. Just because Jim Lang did not think it was a good idea, does not mean it has to "die".
Let's escalate and work within the system to get some answers and find out what the costs are. I, myself, will write to Mr. Joel to find out what is preventing this from taking place.Maybe the Utility Committee is a good place to bring this up also.
Ed Issler
MrBreeze writes:
It is very simple. The portion of the water and sewer bill that goes towards sewer and water main pipes has been collected since the homes were built, some as far back as 1969. So people who are on the sewer owe nothing to the new taps as they have paid all along. I agree the water company is a joke, but that is what happens when you let goverment run industry.
playballonK writes:
hey Edgar, have you got your 'pound of flesh' yet?...moron.
deltarome writes:
Just because older users of sewer were paying sewer bills for years doesn't mean they paid enough to replace the aging piping and plant.
typically, the bills are only high enough to pay for operating cost and interest on past debt. Once the debt is paid off, the bills only cover operating costs.Since there is no capital improvement fund that kept extra money to cover future pipe replacements, the city will need to sell bonds to cover the replacement costs. To get the bonds, the city council will need to obligate some or all of the sewer users to cover the debt service. That is where the fur fight will occur-who pays and how much.
Choose your new council members wisely.......
happy6 writes:
ISSLER.... the houses were here before the condos....look at the building of marco....the only "condo" was the old marriott and the sunset house...
if you are so stupid as to think the condos/hotels etc do not get special treatment and always have then you are THE VILLAGE IDIOT.
deltarome writes:
The houses came first but the sewers were not installed until there was a commercial demand that couldn't be met with septic tanks and that was the original condo's and commercial stores.
It was not cost effective to hook up sewers to all the island especially in the estates area where the houses are spread out and the lots were large enough to filter out the effluent before it got to the canals.
MrBreeze writes:
Deltarome, I would differ with your history on the island sewer's. Homes that were first built by Deltona Corp. already had the water and sewer and streets in place prior to constrution. Therefore, the Water "dept" was being paid for at the first use of water by the homeowner. I came to the island knowing that I would only buy a home on city sewer. I have seen this time and time again in water communities where the sewer will come and the homeowner pays. The lots that were not on sewer were underpriced to start with and I feel I paid a "extra" for my home on sewer. Therefore I can not agree that we on the original sewer owe anything. If the pipes need work, Relined or repair the water dept service needs to kick in as this is only fair.
jwputnam writes:
"The truth shall set you free"
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