- Local
- Community
- Journalism
Support the independent voice of Dallas and help keep the future of Dallas Observer free.
At last, another council member with a blog: Ann Margolin, who's penned a little sumpin-sumpin about the budget by way of an invite to one her town hall meetings. Specifically, Margolin writes, she's opposed to the increase in water and stormwater fees as proposed by City Manager Mary Suhm. The city manager wants to raise monthly Dallas Water Utilities fees by 4.2 percent and up stormwater management fees by an average of $1.72. To which Margolin responds, Hold your water.
Dallas Water Utilities
The proposed budget has an increase in water rates of about 4% for two main reasons:I have no objection to economic development, but believe we must support it within the budget, not by moving money from DWU to the General Fund. More information on DWU and the proposed rate table can be found at thus link. See slide 25 on this PDF for the rate table.
- Replacement of aging water mains.
- PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes): This is a fee assessed to DWU in place of property taxes to be used for economic development. It is, in effect, a property tax on DWU that is paid for ONLY by Dallas residents (not the other municipalities that use DWU).
Keep the Dallas Observer Free... Since we started the Dallas Observer, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Dallas, and we would like to keep it that way. Offering our readers free access to incisive coverage of local news, food and culture. Producing stories on everything from political scandals to the hottest new bands, with gutsy reporting, stylish writing, and staffers who've won everything from the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi feature-writing award to the Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism. But with local journalism's existence under siege and advertising revenue setbacks having a larger impact, it is important now more than ever for us to rally support behind funding our local journalism. You can help by participating in our "I Support" membership program, allowing us to keep covering Dallas with no paywalls.
