Sin Tax
By Johnny Roosh
I don’t remember this garnering a lot of attention on the part of the media or blogosphere when in January the legislature passed a sin tax (although they won’t call it that) to curb the excessive use of yet another damaging substance:
Water.
Before approving the higher rates this year, Minnetonka City Council Members Brad Wiersum and Tony Wagner wanted to know whether the change to graduated fees was showing signs of working.
“Have we changed behavior or have we raised revenue?” Wiersum asked.
In the first year, “We changed behavior slightly, but not to any significance,” Wagstrom said.
Personally, I think watering your lawn and treating it with chemicals is silly and wasteful, especially in Minnesota where it will be frozen to death a few weeks after you have achieved green carpet nirvana. My opinion notwithstanding, municipalities should charge residents what it costs to deliver clean, safe water.
…and not a penny more.
In the past, if we’ve had a shortage, cities have relied on watering bans or odd/even day restrictions.
…but that doesn’t raise any more revenue now does it? And in the end, people that use more already pay more.
The sin tax on water is yet another violation of the principal of “government for the people;” another attempt to raise revenue and increase government influence under the guise of a crisis.
June 28th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
What I wonder is exactly how the land of lakes “lacks” water for watering lawns. I would hope that reality might intrude on the thoughts of municipal grand pooh bahs, but apparently not.
June 28th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
When I first moved out here, I found it curious (in an academic sort of way) that my water bill here in the Utah desert was about half of my water bill in the “land of lakes”. I found it curious, yet I was not surprised in the least.
Cindy
June 29th, 2009 at 7:45 am
It isn’t up to the municipal folks, the DNR is mandating tiered water rates, among other things. The net result is supposed to be that you break even on your costs, so people end up getting a break on the lower tier.
The other aspect of water rates, at least in growing communities, is whether you cover your up front infrastructure costs with connection fees, or put the cost into your water rates. That part, cities do have control over.
June 29th, 2009 at 8:44 am
It isn’t up to the municipal folks, the DNR is mandating tiered water rates, among other things.
Ahhh Minnesota, where the specific government unit that is responsible for delivering the service, is never responsible for paying for it, or setting the level/cost of the service. Some government unit that is not directly influenced by the citizens most effected is the one that sets the rules or cost.
Quite a way of insulating the government from those nasty citizens.