Top Hats

UPDATE:  Vernon councillor and GVAC director Bob Spiers, thankfully, clarified the story with this:

• The change at GVAC was to maintain the spread between the non Domestic Rate of 1.53 (in 2015) and 2.19 Residential above 80m3 rate (2015 Rate) which is 66 cents lower for non Domestic Customers. (Business,Institutional and Industrial.) 
• The rate change as originally passed by GVAC maintained this difference at a  1.67 vs 2.32 = 65 cents. )
• The rate change as revised at RDNO increased this difference  at a  1.58 vs 2.37 = 79 cents

At the Special May Rates meetings GVAC will have to discuss the direction of this difference and how fast to equalize the NON Domestic and the Residential Rates. Agricultural rates will also be a source of discussion.

Here was the blog's initial response to the cloudy, confusing story:



How many hats can GVAC Directors and RDNO Board members don?

Get a load of this entirely confuddled and confusing story, with blog comments bolded.
In other words, what does this newspaper story say?


Morning Star website by Rolke February 25/16:

"Directors take Greater Vernon water rates in a new direction:

Greater Vernon's water rates structure has been reversed and that has some politicians boiling.  (reversed?  so there isn't a 2 pct water rate increase this year?  yipppeeee!)

Instead of adopting a recommended rates structure from the Greater Vernon Advisory Committee, the Regional District of North Okanagan board voted to change the terms of the bylaw.  (change the terms?  or the rates?)

"The spread between residential and commercial customers becomes larger," said Akbal Mund, who, along with director Bob Spiers, opposed adoption.  (if rates increased equally as bureaucrats had proposed, why would the spread change?)

"There are more residential costumers(sic) than commercial so we are penalizing residential."  (Ah...a hint that residential rates got hit, and other rates didn't?  Oh, and costumers is probably more accurate than customers in this charade.  Hiding behind costumes?)

The rate changes adopted Wednesday include:  (but obviously aren't limited to?...)
Domestic use from 40 to 80 cubic metres $ 1.59 to $ 1.58
Domestic use >80 cubic metres $2.32 to $2.37
Non domestic $ 1.67 to $1.58  (so...if there's a spread as was stated earlier, where is the spread if domestic and non domestic are $1.58? Unless of course non domestic pays $1.58 from 1 cubic metre).

GVAC had recently gone against a staff report (the ubiquitous GVW bureaucrats) on rates and that was a mistake, says director Bob Fleming, who also sits at GVAC.  (Also sits at GVAC? yup, the sentence says 'director Bob Fleming'!  He also sits on the Board!)  (Fleming isn't even a GVW customer; neither is Macnabb --both are on wells--yet they're deciding on what water users will pay...gone against a staff report?)

"The staff proposal was well thought-out and was created to keep the changes to an overall minimum, a two per cent increase to rates," he said.

However, Fleming says members of GVAC amended the staff proposal (Didn't the Morning Star story just say the Board amended the rates?)

"We didn't have time to consider the implications.  The main result is higher water users pay substantially more -- 9 to 10 per cent.  It skewed things," he said (Skewed? screwed.)

As a result, Fleming (the GVAC director) introduced a motion Wednesday (at a Board meeting? where he's a board member?) to amend the GVAC recommendation to reflect the original staff proposal (of 2 per cent straight across?)

Only Greater Vernon directors voted on the motion Wednesday (but wasn't it the Board?)

Mund denies the GVAC recommendation was based on a lack of details.  "The information is there," he said."

Spiers insists there shouldn't be a difference between how residential, commercial and industrial water users are treated.  "With a drop of potable water, you should pay the same," adding that a residential customer using more than 80 cubic metres will see the cost climb 8 per cent."  (what about the earlier calculated '9 to 10 per cent?')

"you want to talk about rate shock, that's what you got."  (No I don't want to talk about rate shock, but that's just me).

A process will begin in May to review rates.  (Huh?  A rate review 3 months from now?  Will everyone have new batteries in their calculators by then?  Including the Morning Star?)

"We need the context and the implications.  Rates may go up and they may go down but there needs to be a discussion," said director Mike Macnabb (up or down?  says the director who is also a Board member, and who is also on a well?)

"Another water rate discussion?" asks Kia adding "Jeezzuzz!"

over-governance in the North Okanagan?

Sources:

• 2015 water rates began on page 8 of 13 here.

• GVW's proposed 2016 water rates here.

• G. Kiss water rate changes 2003 to 2014 here.

And thrown in for good measure: B.C.'s new Water Sustainability Act's Fees and Rental Schedule.