Utilities mess tests county's resolve

On Thursday, Douglas County commissioners approved consolidating the Sunrise Estates and the East Valley Water System and increased the rates for the North Valley Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Unlike a previous proposal, where the county wanted to consolidate the three Lake Tahoe and two southwest water systems with east and west valleys, Sunrise Estates and the East Valley will be connected soon.

The county's utilities are not the largest here nor have they always been managed that well.

Utility managers had a bad habit of using connection fees to pay operation costs for both the sewer and water plants.

When connection fees dried up, suddenly the county was faced with either allowing all the taxpayers to make up the difference or charging what it cost to provide sewer and water to those connected to the county systems.

For example, taxpayers are subsidizing the treatment plant's 1,800 customers $350,000 over two years to help keep payments from shooting upward.

There's a fine line when dealing with complaining ratepayers between listening to those in need and bowing to pressure from a small group, ignoring what has to be done to put the utilities on a paying basis.

County commissioners have said they are no longer willing to penalize taxpayers in order to serve those folks who happen to be customers of a county utility. It will be these debates that test their resolve to do just that.