During recent Truth or Consequences city commission meetings, City Manager Bruce Swingle has stated the city’s water rates are “ridiculously low,” that rates have gone up 30 percent in recent years and that the city’s water rates are the lowest in the state.
Swingle, during the Feb. 22 meeting, qualified that Artesia and Hobbs have lower water rates, but “get their revenue from gas and oil.” That is a near-admission that the city is getting its revenue from utilities, which is bad management: https://efc.web.unc.edu/2013/09/27/fund-transfer-workarounds/
Swingle said he is often told that T or C has a poor population when he recommends utility rate increases. “Other communities do too,” Swingle said, dismissing the fact that T or C is among the poorest communities in the nation and state.
Of course, Swingle’s lead up ended with his statement to city commissioners that water rates need to go up. A water-rate study will come before them soon, he said.
I’d like to introduce some facts into the argument.
The city’s water rates went up about 50 percent in 2020, another 5.4 percent in 2021 and over 9 percent in 2022. See the Sierra County Sun article for reference on the first two increases: https://sierracountysun.org/government/t-or-c/t-or-cs-water-rate-increase-is-over-5-percent/
The last time the city had a rate study done was in 2020, conducted by the Rural Community Assistance Corporation, which was hired by the U. S. Department of Agriculture. The USDA was thinking about loaning the city 60 percent of and granting the city 40 percent of $9.4 million for the downtown water project currently underway.
The RCAC used un-audited figures to do the water study, taking then-City Manager Morris Madrid’s word for water utility figures. See the Sierra County Sun article for reference: https://sierracountysun.org/government/t-or-c/problems-with-information-used-to-rationalize-water-rate-increase/
When the city manager or city commission raises utility rates, it never acknowledges it has raided utility revenue for generations to make its books balance, neglecting the water, wastewater, electric utilities in consequence. Past and present city commissioners have passed budgets sanctioning the ongoing raids. See the Sierra County Sun article for an analysis that still applies to current practice: https://sierracountysun.org/government/t-or-c/analysis-why-torc-city-commissioners-dont-have-to-be-transparent/
The city has not posted its current budget document on the city website, otherwise I would link it to prove the practice of raiding utility revenue is still occurring. I attended all of the budget sessions, however, and about $2 million will be transferred from the utilities to make up for the shortfall in the general fund account, balancing the books yet again by robbing the utility funds.
This raiding of utility fees is essentially a hidden tax or taxation without representation. It is also non-transparent bookkeeping that makes it impossible for the utility payer or citizen to figure out where his or her utility money is going and therefore what their government is up to.
Using utility money to run the city also burdens the poor the most. One cannot do without utilities, whereas one can avoid paying gross receipts taxes by limiting non-food purchases. Similarly one can avoid property taxes by not owning property. Instead of increasing property taxes to make up for a shortfall in the general fund or increasing gross receipts taxes, both of which would require voter approval, the city commission just raises utility rates.
Now that the utilities are failing, utility rates are not only paying for other government functions, but also for long term debt for repair and replacement projects to the utilities.
The city commission and city manager could at least acknowledge that water, wastewater, solid waste and electric utility fees have been and are still being raided when it imposes rate hikes on its trapped customers.
The city commission and city manager could at least acknowledge that yearly utility rate hikes are cumulative and compounded. Sewer rates have gone up 5 percent a year since 2017. My math is not good enough to compute the compounded increase, but I know it is not a straight 25 percent increase in the last five years. Solid waste rates have also gone up 5 percent a year since 2017. Water rates have increased about 65 percent since 2020.
The city commission and city manager could also acknowledge how poor its citizens are. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, 30.4 percent of TorC’s population lives in poverty.
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/truthorconsequencescitynewmexico
According to the Healthy Journal, New Mexico is the third poorest state in the union:
According to Roadsnacks, T or C is the second poorest city in the state, Anthony being the poorest:
thanks Kathleen for another wonderful article.
You’re like the Seymour Hersh of local reporting.
i wonder what the wealth distribution is here? for the second poorest city in the state we have a lot of really wealthy people. Well, as a percentage of the population? I don’t know. It seems like many of the wealthy people I know have homes in other states and only spend a few weeks/months out of the year here.
Many have multiple air BnBs here too. Last I checked the Airbnb website, there were 48 active airBnBs in the bathouse district alone! I wonder how few individuals owned those 4 dozen airbnb’s.
I see how a utility hike would hurt the poor, but so would a property tax hike. for the a super poor city, there are a good number of coastal elites with business here.
if you don’t publish this, i don’t blame you. it’s fairly divisive.
As for the water department- there is an awful and universal reason this is happening. It’s not just our city. this is what happens when we have cultures of nepotism. unqualified people in rolls. the water crew is starved for people, why? why did the animal control officer who did a good job, why did she leave?
this is happening all over the country. mixtures concepts such as nepotism have real world results. thus we’re paying various private companies to do water work (as basic as taps for new clients from what i’ve heard)- those guys are making good money and working with professionals, yet the city won’t pay to keep a good crew and the culture of it wouldn’t recognize it if they saw it.
Progressive rates for water usage may be a way to reduce the impact on lower income residents. In other words the first certain number of gallons of water would have a lower rate and than subsequent gallons. This would allow residents to have enough to sustain minimal requirements at an affordable rate and would punish excessive use.
The rates currently in effect are “progressive.” The base monthly fee includes 2,000 gallons and the cost per 1,000 gallons goes higher the more water one uses. The rate for commercial water use is more forgiving than it is for residential users.