After this last Council work session, July 18, 2017, it looks like most of council wants to raise your utility rates by, what I call “double dipping”. Not only will your future utility bill for electricity charge you for “Time of Use”, but you will also be hit with the “Tier Rate” expense. This is not staff’s fault. Staff clearly illustrated that the “tier rate” concept does not save energy. If you are concerned, you should write to council about your disagreement.

This really works against people on fixed incomes and hurts more of those who “don’t have”. To some, the increase may seem minor, but to others it is just another piece of the cost of living going up, not to mention all of the other types of fees the City charges. Keep in mind, your utility cost goes up every year anyway, so this will just add to the problem.

This may help answer why more people of our working class are moving out of town so they can live “affordably” to make ends meet.