Comment
Silent shareholders
The municipality of Prince Edward County has its share of challenges. But contrary to the election-time claims of would-be council members, the County does not have a debt problem.
The County owes about $16 million in taxpayer- funded debt. That’s about $640 per person, or approximately $1,400 per household. Measured against cash flow and assets, it is a modest, reasonable and manageable amount of debt.
It is a far different matter at the County managed waterworks utility. Here, the debtload is a staggering $30 million. It is not well understood, however, that the obligation to pay this money back is not shared by the 25,000 residents of Prince Edward County. It is not their debt. It belongs to a much smaller subset of the municipality— namely water and wastewater service users.
These 3,754 waterworks customers are, effectively, the owners of this utility. Their water bills pay the operators, the capital works, the debt and the management services provided by County employees to oversee and finance this business. None of these costs flow back to the County taxpayer.
Waterworks customers are the shareholders in this business. They are on the hook for every nickel of costs and every penny of the debt the utility accumulates.
Yet waterworks consumers have no voice. They have no designated seat around the table when decisions are being made, whether they are about taking on more debt or initiating a new multi-million dollar capital works project. County staff make these decisions. County council ratifies them.
Only six (of 16) council members, however, pay a water bill every other month. That means the interests of a majority of council are not in alignment with those who fund the waterworks enterprise. They might empathize, they may have a relative who pays a water bill, but it’s not the same thing.
Waterworks consumers—those paying the bills—must have direct and ongoing input in the operation of their utility. But in Prince Edward County, they are bystanders in the management of a business in which they foot the entire bill.
This week, County council is creating another ad hoc committee to look at waterworks rates and the fees charged to builders seeking waterworks services.
The intention is good—the premise, however, is fatally flawed. Unless, and until, the shareholders of this utility are sitting around the table in meaningful numbers—the discussion is pointless.
Worse, the process is stacked against their interests.
The way this committee has been constructed it is possible that none of the folks appointed to discuss the future of the waterworks utility and the rates it charges, would have a direct stake in the business—save for Mayor Quaiff.
Five seats have been saved for municipal staff, five for council members including Mayor Quaiff, two from the general public at large and one representing the building community.
Staff, of course, need to be at the table—but in an advisory capacity, not in a governance role. Of the five council members, the rules say that three councillors must represent an area serviced by water. Not that they pay a water bill each month—only that they represent an area where some folks do. This is not nearly good enough.
Then, there is the bizarre inclusion on the committee of a councillor from a ward not served by the waterworks utility. Why? Why not a donkey or a Martian? What possible purpose is served by appointing a councillor to this committee with no direct interest in this business? We have plenty of those already sitting around the council table.
Similarly, the terms of reference for the proposed waterworks committee call for two of the dozen members to be selected from the public at large. At large? There is nothing requiring that these folks pay a water bill to qualify to sit on this committee. This is offensive and unacceptable.
These representatives must be waterworks consumers.
So we must ask ourselves: Why is it that those who are responsible for paying all the costs aren’t better represented at the table? Why are we populating this committee with folks who don’t have a direct interest in this business?
Waterworks customers need to insist that a majority of the people sitting around that table have a vested personal interest in the outcome.
Waterworks users have been quiet for far too long. Some of the worst injustices County residents have endured, and continue to endure, have been inflicted by their waterworks department.
It has been too easy for management to pile on costs, load up on debt, and add layers of staff. There has been no pushback and little demand for accountability. Rates go up. We pay them.
It is how Belleville gets away with charging the County usurious rates for Rossmore’s water. It is how Consecon’s beneficial water deal with Quinte West was torn up, years before it expired. Without notice. Without explanation. It is how sewage plants are built on hill tops overlooking the town it serves.
As owners of this utility, they have relied on council to look after their interests. Yet, the majority of council members have no stake in this business.
The simple fact is that council’s interests do not align with the folks who pay waterworks bills. It is a broken governing model.
These 3,754 customers need to stand together and raise their voices. It is their business. And only their business.
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