Just a Reminder

Just a Reminder to the Board of Alderman:


September 26th, 2007

A debate about the merits of nonbinding resolutions didn't stop a committee of the Board of Aldermen from voting to forward a recommendation to keep water and sewer rate increases under 5 percent next year.

The resolution, first presented last week at a meeting where the board voted to increase water and sewer rates by 15 percent, calls for keeping a lid on any rate increases next year as well as promising to use any money won from pending lawsuits to lower water and sewer rates.

Some board members attempted to pass the resolution during the board's regular meeting last week. However, a narrow majority of the board prevailed in sending the measure to committee for further review.

At the time the resolution was sent to committee, the only concern voiced about the measure regarded whether or not the 5 percent cap was realistic.

Public Works business manager Mary Anne Courcelle said during a Public Works Committee meeting Tuesday she didn't expect rates to increase more than 5 percent next year. The only reason she foresaw rates rising above that cap would be due to unforeseen emergencies — which would be covered by a caveat in the resolution allowing for higher rates due to emergencies.

But the concerns raised Tuesday had less to do with getting the city into a precarious bind than it had to do with not being binding enough.

Public Works Committee member David Dress said that while he initially supported the resolution, further reflection changed his mind.

"The more I read it the more I saw it as a document to appease the taxpayers and rate payers," he said. "It's a paper tiger. I'd like to support the intention, but there's nothing binding about it."

The resolution's author, Board President David Allaire, said he drafted the document to list the city's targets and back up the board's convictions by putting them in writing.

"I wanted to show the ratepayers that we understand and we're not going to come at them continually with double-digit increases without also looking at other avenues," Allaire said. "Resolutions are not often done in Rutland so they hold more weight. …When Rutland passes a resolution we pass it because we mean it."

Committee member Madeline Sherman took her interpretation and support for the resolution a step further.

In her estimation, the resolution wasn't directed toward the public at all — it was directed at the Department of Public Works and the administration of Mayor Christopher Louras.

"It was hard to support cutting staff this year without any planning," Sherman said. "This says to DPW that they need to realize that we're going to make some changes to keep increases in check."

With only three members of the Public Works Committee present, Sherman and Committee Chairman Roy Thomas prevailed in forwarding the measure by a 2-to-1 vote with Dress casting the "no" vote.

The full board will decide whether to approve the resolution when it meets again next week.

(Courtesy of Brent Curtis at the Rutland Herald).