The Stupid, It Hurts: Water is a Utility, not a Tax Item
There are people around who cant process certain facts and it's certainly frustrating to have to make the same point to them over and over again and watch them spin their wheels trying to ignore facts and the law once it's been presented to them several times. I've watched this happen over several years in regards to people who live in the same development as me, debating our water system.
A little background: back in the 1960's the area now known as the Village District of Eidelweiss was subdivided by a corporation into ~1100 lots and sold. Due to the size of some of the lots, they were unbuildable if required to have both a septic system and a well for drinking water. Therefore, the development had it's own water system laid in. This was shoddily done. I know this because the "contractor" who worked on my house (that I won a $20k judgment against and he subsequently declared bankruptcy) would tell stories of working here and how the roads were used as stump dumps and then road material was put over them (hence some of the problems in our roads) as well as piping cobbled together for a water system that was often different sizes from length to length. They threw in what they had to do it the cheapest way possible with no oversight. In the 1970's the corporation went bankrupt and disappeared and the only way to manage the development was to form a Village District. The town of Madison had only agreed to the subdivision if the roads were considered "private" and not part of Madison so they wouldn't be responsible for the maintenance.
The same is true of the water system. For years, maintenance of the water system was included in the tax rate. The problem came when lots were developed (built on) that were not allowed to connect to the water system. Some were due to their proximity to main roads. Although still considered part of the Village District, they were not adjacent to any Village roads where they could connect to the water system, yet they were still paying taxes to maintain a water system they could not connect to. The same s true for people on some roads that were considered "Class VI" roads where water mains hadn't been run. Just before I bought these lots and built my homes, the people who run the Village District had the "brilliant" idea of putting a moratorium on water hook-ups as a way of preventing people from developing their lots. They didn't take into consideration the number of people, like myself, that could just sink a well along with our septic system because our lots are large enough to do that. In fact, my well feeds both of my houses, thereby saving the cost of two hookups.
The minute one house was developed in here that didn't include a water hookup, water became a utility and not part of the tax rate. For many years, they got away with keeping the water in the tax rate because people didn't know any better and didn't question how much of the additional taxes we pay to the Village District were paying for a utility they were denied access to. I talked to a class-action lawyer about it many years ago, because I was angry. Not so much about the taxes themselves, but because the Commissioners running the District made it a point to harass anyone new here, myself included. They harassed me continually while I was developing my property to the point they were overstepping their authority. I had to cave, though, if I wanted a Certificate of Occupancy for the home I had to live in because my other one had sold. I remedied that situation later on, but for the time being, I latched on to this one thing they were doing that was illegal and that a group of homeowners could sue them on and win and cost the District thousands of dollars either way.
We have groups on Facebook and via email for local homeowners. The water system is a mess, of that I'll agree. I'm always very happy I am not on it and I have my well. The problem is that every time the debate comes around about financing the fixes the system needs, people inevitably talk about why isn't it in the tax rate. They don't accept that water is a utility and only those who use it pay for it. If you don't have a landline phone in your house, do you pay a bill to the phone company anyway? No, of course not. That is the case with the water system in the district. Spinning their wheels about putting it in the taxes, which would just result in a slew of lawsuits by people who now are clued in to the fact that they were paying money they shouldn't have for a very long time.
Yet the same people will crow the same thing over and over like a broken record. What's ironic here is the same people who whine about the unfairness of their being part-time residents (it's mostly second homes up here, with less than 100 full-time residents in the development) and paying the same in their water bills as the full-time residents, don't see the unfairness in placing a tax burden on people who were either denied access to the water system and were forced to put in wells or who could never access it in the first place. Their viewpoint is anything to reduce their fees with no regard for the people they are screwing over. How typical is that of today?
I've given up trying to tell these people that they are arguing about something that will never happen. They always try to bring up that the water system is like the schools - you pay for it even if you don't have kids in it. No, it isn't. No one told you that you couldn't put your kids in the school but you still have to pay for it. Yet it's like they are holding their hands over their ears saying "la la la I can't hear you" when these points are made to them. The water system will never again be part of the tax base. It's a utility. Not one of these people has water included in their taxes where they have their primary home. They are, unfortunately, paying now for the short-sightedness of many people including the original land company, the contractors, and the Commissioners who governed the District over the years.
A little background: back in the 1960's the area now known as the Village District of Eidelweiss was subdivided by a corporation into ~1100 lots and sold. Due to the size of some of the lots, they were unbuildable if required to have both a septic system and a well for drinking water. Therefore, the development had it's own water system laid in. This was shoddily done. I know this because the "contractor" who worked on my house (that I won a $20k judgment against and he subsequently declared bankruptcy) would tell stories of working here and how the roads were used as stump dumps and then road material was put over them (hence some of the problems in our roads) as well as piping cobbled together for a water system that was often different sizes from length to length. They threw in what they had to do it the cheapest way possible with no oversight. In the 1970's the corporation went bankrupt and disappeared and the only way to manage the development was to form a Village District. The town of Madison had only agreed to the subdivision if the roads were considered "private" and not part of Madison so they wouldn't be responsible for the maintenance.
The same is true of the water system. For years, maintenance of the water system was included in the tax rate. The problem came when lots were developed (built on) that were not allowed to connect to the water system. Some were due to their proximity to main roads. Although still considered part of the Village District, they were not adjacent to any Village roads where they could connect to the water system, yet they were still paying taxes to maintain a water system they could not connect to. The same s true for people on some roads that were considered "Class VI" roads where water mains hadn't been run. Just before I bought these lots and built my homes, the people who run the Village District had the "brilliant" idea of putting a moratorium on water hook-ups as a way of preventing people from developing their lots. They didn't take into consideration the number of people, like myself, that could just sink a well along with our septic system because our lots are large enough to do that. In fact, my well feeds both of my houses, thereby saving the cost of two hookups.
The minute one house was developed in here that didn't include a water hookup, water became a utility and not part of the tax rate. For many years, they got away with keeping the water in the tax rate because people didn't know any better and didn't question how much of the additional taxes we pay to the Village District were paying for a utility they were denied access to. I talked to a class-action lawyer about it many years ago, because I was angry. Not so much about the taxes themselves, but because the Commissioners running the District made it a point to harass anyone new here, myself included. They harassed me continually while I was developing my property to the point they were overstepping their authority. I had to cave, though, if I wanted a Certificate of Occupancy for the home I had to live in because my other one had sold. I remedied that situation later on, but for the time being, I latched on to this one thing they were doing that was illegal and that a group of homeowners could sue them on and win and cost the District thousands of dollars either way.
We have groups on Facebook and via email for local homeowners. The water system is a mess, of that I'll agree. I'm always very happy I am not on it and I have my well. The problem is that every time the debate comes around about financing the fixes the system needs, people inevitably talk about why isn't it in the tax rate. They don't accept that water is a utility and only those who use it pay for it. If you don't have a landline phone in your house, do you pay a bill to the phone company anyway? No, of course not. That is the case with the water system in the district. Spinning their wheels about putting it in the taxes, which would just result in a slew of lawsuits by people who now are clued in to the fact that they were paying money they shouldn't have for a very long time.
Yet the same people will crow the same thing over and over like a broken record. What's ironic here is the same people who whine about the unfairness of their being part-time residents (it's mostly second homes up here, with less than 100 full-time residents in the development) and paying the same in their water bills as the full-time residents, don't see the unfairness in placing a tax burden on people who were either denied access to the water system and were forced to put in wells or who could never access it in the first place. Their viewpoint is anything to reduce their fees with no regard for the people they are screwing over. How typical is that of today?
I've given up trying to tell these people that they are arguing about something that will never happen. They always try to bring up that the water system is like the schools - you pay for it even if you don't have kids in it. No, it isn't. No one told you that you couldn't put your kids in the school but you still have to pay for it. Yet it's like they are holding their hands over their ears saying "la la la I can't hear you" when these points are made to them. The water system will never again be part of the tax base. It's a utility. Not one of these people has water included in their taxes where they have their primary home. They are, unfortunately, paying now for the short-sightedness of many people including the original land company, the contractors, and the Commissioners who governed the District over the years.
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