Yowza … there was indeed sticker shock at my house when the utility bill arrived, this being the first full month of higher rates. And it didn’t take long for my neighbor to call and ask if there could possibly have been some mistake on theirs, either – so I was relieved it wasn’t just me.
Since we’d been careful to turn off the A/C whenever possible this last month, take shorter showers, turn the irrigation system off after it rained, etc. – we were surprised that the bill was as high as it was. But in walking my neighbor through her bill, I realized that this is “Budget Plan Reconciliation” month for both of us (and maybe city-wide). So the ‘Total Amount’ Due was not only higher from the increase, but because we were in the hole from having only paid the “budget plan averaged amount” all year.
Don’t get me wrong — the additional $14.65 in higher base charges, as well as the increased rates for actual usage isn’t pretty, especially when you consider this is only the first of three years of increases. But the combination of higher base charges, higher usage rates AND year-end reconciliation made it look WAY worse than I expected. Next month’s bill will have the new estimated average for the coming year on it and that will be a little more telling on the true impact of the rate increase, I’m thinking…
If you’d like to view the new rates, they are now printed on the reverse side of your bill and here’s a more complete version I found on the City of Boulder City’s website … just CLICK HERE.
And if you’d like to weigh in on your utility bill, you can do that on our Facebook page by CLICKING HERE!
