shiawasseecounty.net

Looks like the Owosso City council is planning to raise residential water & sewer rates! According to a front page article in today's (Jan. 3, 2007) issue of the Independent, ''....Owosso city council members decided to delay any decision on raising city water rates until there is a discussion during the Fifth Monday meeting, 7:30 p.m. Monday January 29, at City Hall. City Utilities Director Gary Burk, in a discussion on Dec. 18, said the city also needs to look at sewer rate changes, and the fees it will impose as part of the Sanitary Sewage Overflow program."

I think we need to keep a close eye on our TAX and SPEND Owosso City Council. These guys (and Gals) just don't seen to GET IT....The local economy is in the TANK....there are NO jobs of merit ANYWHERE in this area...the Owosso-Corunna HOUSING market is OVERFLOWING with UNSALABLE properties.....

...and now, they're are about to RAISE municipal water and sewage rates!

Ya gotta love it!

Probably to pay for the houses on gould street

...You may be right. The new Osburn Lakes subdivision you mention has brand-new infrastructure (streets, sidewalks, water & sewer mains), all of which were provided courtesy of the previous Owosso City Council (and the TAXPAYERS, of course).

...Plus, the NEW and IMPROVED city council has just purchased the old, useless VAUNGARDE property for a BARGAIN price of just $88,001.00. (THANKS A BUNCH, GUYS!)

.....Not to mention the old Owosso Hotel DEBACLE in the downtown area. I'm sure THAT one will cost the taxpayers of Owosso a lot more before it's over.

...But, ya gotta love it!

Weren't the rates just raised this past year? I live in Corunna and was told that our rates had gone up due to Owosso raising their's.

I believe you are correct. According to a press release from September 2005, a proposal was on the table at that time to raise Owosso's water rates effective with the October 2005 residential billing:

OWOSSO SEWER & WATER RATES

The Owosso City Council is considering a proposal for a water rate increase. The last water rate increase was in September 2002. Monthly water and sewer charges each consist of a demand charge and a usage charge.

The water demand charge is proposed to increase from $6.50 to $7.50 per month for a residential user with a 5/8-inch water meter. Water demand charges for larger metered services would increase in proportion. This increase is for debt service on the water revenue bonds financing the $4,800,000 treatment plant improvements completed last year. The $7.50 rate had been requested in 2002 but was scaled back to $6.50 per month to phase in the increase. The water usage charge would increase from $1.10 to $1.20 per meter unit (100 cubic feet or about 750 gallons). This increase is needed to cover increases in operating expenses. Retail water rates for customers outside the city limits of Owosso are double the in city rates noted above. Sewer rates would not change. The proposal is for the increase to be effective with the water bill run of September 30, 2005 (bills due for payment in October).

The complete text of the press release is available at:

http://ci.owosso.mi.us/ReferenceDesk/Pr ... pt2005.htm

....And HERE they come AGAIN! But THIS time, the NEW and IMPROVED TAX and SPEND Owosso city council plans to raise sewer AND water rates for Owosso residents!

......Which means that if you live in Corunna, your water bill will go up TWICE AS MUCH as it will in Owosso!

..Our council is a pretty neighborly group, aren't they?

They have to raise the rates.

There are so many vacant houses that are not using water (not paying).
There are so many vacant factories that are not using water(not paying).

It still costs just as much to operate the water plant, apparently.

So, they have to raise the rates.

Nobody hollered enough for the council to notice before (maybe they were some of the ones to move away) good luck getting anyone to complain about it now.

Raising the water rates for the second time in two years is bad enough, but what REALLY concerns me is this rather ominous sounding statement of City Utilities Director Gary Burk. Quoting from my original post, in a discussion on Dec. 18, Burk said "the city also needs to look at sewer rate changes, and the fees it will impose as part of the Sanitary Sewage Overflow program.

...It's those unspecified FEES the council is poised to impose that I'm most concerned about. I built a new house here six years ago, so I KNOW FIRSTHAND how quickly and easily the city can pick ones pockets with their mysterious and sundry "FEES."

I just hope the burden from the new TAX isn't so large that we lose even MORE residents!

I'm afraid you are doomed.

Ditto that. Over sized infrastructure and the taxes to support and maintain it was one of the primary reasons I left the city (of Durand) a few years ago. If the infrastructure was designed for a 50/50 mix of business/residential and 25% of the business leaves, who picks up the slack? Now add in 10% of the residential leaving because of the jobs leaving and your net loss becomes 35%. Those that remain pay an increasing share of the load.

I live in Paulding County, GA. We have the opposite problem with the infrastructure than you faced in Durand. Over the past several years, we have been experiencing a residential boom in our county. New subdivisions are going up all the time. The drastic increase in population has made all our schools overcrowded to the point they had to bring trailers onto the campuses to use as added classrooms. A new high school (now for a total of four) and a new middle school were opened for the beginning of this school year. A new middle school will open up for the beginning of next school year, but the Board of Education states the elementary schools will probably be in split sessions next year. A new high school is scheduled to open in 2008.

Currently, a 500 home subdivision is being constructed across the road from mine. This will add to the overcrowding of our schools as well as the ten other subdivisions currently under construction.

We've had a lot of new retail develop, but no industrial. The FAA has funded an airport that is currently under the development.

You should see our roads in the morning, late afternoon, and evening. Don't expect to get anywhere quickly.

There are 98 homes in my subdivision, all of them on half-acre lots with septic tanks instead of sewage because the county didn't want to run it here. However, they did run it to the 500 home subdivision being constructed across the road. It has the residents in my neighborhood fuming because the county is talking about tearing up our streets and yards to add us to the sewage system at an outrageous fee, when it could have been done while the homes were under construction and added to the price of the home. The county did hook the homes up to their water system while they were under construction.

By the way, none of the current homes under construction will be selling for less than $200k ranging from 2,100 to 2,700sq ft on a 1/3 acre lot. I purchased mine before it was constructed for $177k, 3,100 sq ft on a half acre lot. Less is going for more right now in new home sales.

You would think with all the added property tax revenue the county is receiving, they would be taking action to improve the infrastructure, mainly widening the roads.

By state law, the county BOEs can't not receive funding to build new schools based on future population projections. They can only build them once they have enough students to put in them. Every school district has to have a situation of being overcrowded before they build new schools.

We've considered moving into the city, for the nearby businesses, better maintained streets, don't have to worry about well & septic, propane, etc. Plus little perks like cable, which would be nice for me since I work out of my house. (can't use the office vpn or the cisco phone over satellite) And when my grandparents were alive, it would've been nice to have been closer to the hospital & closer to where the ambulances are.

Fox I like your avatar. Sounds like things are really booming where you are, but they're only planning the infrastructure a little bit at a time ... (btw I'd be pretty irritated if they dug up my street and charged me to do something they should've already done.)

I'm not sure how close to Atlanta that is, but I do know Atlanta has been booming since the early 80's..........

Dummy me....I had the chance to go to Atlanta ( well...really, I've lived in the south before - no thanks to the bugs and reptiles, had enough of those)

I chose to come to Owosso, instead.......a place where there is a winter???? Freezing to kill off the bugs and reptiles????

Where frozen ground is better than mud all winter........?????

Sure screwed up on that one.

The growth in that region is phenomenal. Flying North out of Atlanta, scores of new developments are clearly visible from the air.

Lots of new subdivisions in Northern Georgia as well....particularly near Ringgold and Chickamauga, not far from Chattanooga, TN. Don't know how they're doing it without an industrial base, though.

I was never able to figure out what was driving their growth, either.

A friend of mine did relocate there and it just keeps growin' and growin'

I live about 15 miles west of Marietta, which borders the Atlanta city limits, so I'm not all that far from downtown Atlanta. It takes about 40 minutes for me to get to the Georgia Dome.

A lot of corporations have moved their headquarters to the Atlanta area as well as service industry companies. Atlanta has a great public transportation system of buses and rail that will take you to almost anywhere in Atlanta to include the airport.

Our airport makes it really convenient for companies to fly their execs and guests around the world. You can book international flights from Atlanta directly to your destination without having to stop at any other US airport. You can fly directly into Atlanta as well from several European and South American countries.