Check Your Water Bills

It seems like every month lately, there are new shenanigans from PWSA.

In January, we had the mistaken decimal point water bills where consumers ended up with bills up to 100 times what they owed. The entirety of PWSA's customers also were notified that they were signed up for Utility Line Security.

Now, it's March. The latest twist? Probably due to the previous month's snafus, the billing period has been adjusted every month. I received my January bill on February 18. I paid it before its due date of March 10, but February's bills were sent out a scant 11 days later on March 1 and included a convenient late fee for my on-time payment. This late fee was 27 cents and was not actually itemized on my bill. You may say: Why quibble over 27 cents? I say at 83,000 customers, that's a nice $22,000 bonus for the PWSA for their poor service. If you think the PWSA deserves that extra bonus, feel free to do nothing. Or, like me, you can call (412) 255-2423 and give them a piece of your mind.

Or maybe that extra money is going to the out-sourced Malaysian company that is managing our water bills???

The $12 rain barrels at Construction Junction are starting to look mighty fine.

Flood-pocalypse?

Flooded Fifth & Liberty St. intersection, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1907, originally uploaded by trialsanderrors.

The picture above is from downtown Pittsburgh in 1907.

Rain and mild temperatures are predicted for the rest of the week. Will we get new opportunities to take pictures of a flooded downtown?

"The National Weather Service forecast calls for rain and highs approaching 60 degrees from Wednesday through Saturday. Snow in the Laurel Highlands, more than 4 feet deep in spots, has not begun to melt appreciably, but will on Wednesday, said hydrologist Bill Drzal. Rainfall from Thursday through Saturday could be as much as 1.5 inches."

"This does not look like a good situation," he said.

Let's just say I'm glad I live on a hill.

Snow Thanks

• Thank you to all the good Samaritans who helped their neighbors shovel.
• Thank you to the plow drivers who worked ridiculous shifts to bring the roads to the almost-passable states they're at now.
• Thank you to the Port Authority bus drivers braving the roads so the rest of us don't have to. Check out @pghtransit for service updates.
• Thank you to the Duquesne Light electricians who restored my electricity in 24 hours or so.
• Most importantly, thank you to the many restaurants and bars that managed to open, so I had someplace warm and fun to go while waiting for power to be restored.
• Lastly, thank you to the Trib and Post-Gazette for finally picking up on the ridiculous water authority stunt I complained about 3 weeks ago.

Increased PWSA Smarminess In the New Year

Maybe you, like I was, were busy around the holidays. Maybe you, like I did, let this little snippet of PWSA (Pittsburgh Water & Sewer Authority) news slip by:

Board member Patrick Dowd said better news is the introduction of optional insurance that will be added to customer bills as of Jan. 1.

"It's the best news of the day, of the year, perhaps of the decade," said Mr. Dowd, chairman of the authority's finance committee and a Pittsburgh city councilman.

So the best news of the decade may be that Dowd and the rest of the PWSA board gave some crafty insurance company a whole slew of free customers with no work on the private company's part? Every year, Dominion People's Plus sends me paperwork on their extra gas-line insurance plan, and every year, I throw away the paperwork. That's my choice. This time, I have to go to a website and click a link to opt-out. Not cool. If people want insurance, they will opt-in. In good news, you still have the next 6 months to opt-out and receive a refund on any insurance payments you've made.

The real questions? How much of that $5 goes to the PWSA bottom line? Who has a nice cushiony job lined up after his board tenure? When can I expect an audit of this insurance company from Michael Lamb that discovers that this plan is making money hand over fist?

And most importantly, what was wrong with the old warranty system (which didn't pass along any fees to the end-user)?

The new insurance will replace the current warranty system that pays up to $6,000 for repairs or work that could cost as much as $28,000 for a customer with deep sewer problems, Mr. Dowd said.

Or does anybody agree with Dowd and want to convince me why this is the best news of the decade? I'm really curious why I should be happy about the PWSA shirking the responsibility of covering the old warranty system and effectively trying to raise my bill by 15-20% as a user who ranges from 1 to 2 thousand gallons per month. Perhaps the person who agrees with Dowd is the one person who had to cough up $28,000 in the past decade? But does that really mean we collectively should be ponying up $5 Million per year (83,000 customers at $5/month)?

And if this blog post hasn't swayed you on the scariness of the PWSA, check out the latest Pittsburgh City Paper article, "Water Torture."

3 Ways for PWSA to Make Money

Pgh Comet and nullspace have already sunk their teeth into the Iron City / PWSA debacle enough, so why am I writing about it? Because I pay my exorbitant water bill and I'm pissed that yet again, the PWSA is considering raising rates.

I have some cost-cutting recommendations for the Water Authority.

1) Actually charge for water use. (We're looking at you, Pittsburgh Zoo. How are those new sharks getting along?)

2) Once you charge for water use, actually demand payment. (We're looking at you, Iron City.)

3) Make your bills quarterly. You will save postage, paper, accounting, check-cashing time, etc. This is standard practice in other cities. Plus, people feel better about being ripped off when it's only 4 times per year.

As a side note, I commend your cheap-as-chips, minimalist website. Who needs fancy graphics and design? Just a waste of taxpayer money.

Spray On

Am I the only one who can't wait for one of these new-fangled city spray parks to open up in my area? Currently, there is one in Troy Hill, with construction under way for a Beechview park. I think I can walk to the one planned for Beltzhoover. Adults can use them, right? I'm also proud to see the city investing money in some disadvantaged areas. They may not be re-opening any closed public pools, but they are replacing them with something fun and refreshing. Instead of cutting back on amenities, this is an example of a smart budgeting compromise where the city spends a lot less money than a traditional pool, but the neighborhoods still benefit.

Added bonus: Suburban Moms venturing into Troy Hill for the first time - and enjoying it. Now if only we can get Shady Side Moms to head there...

Stimulus Watch - Pittsburgh Style

When the stimulus money was released nation-wide, there were big promises that all the money spent would be publicized online in the intent to make us feel better about the billions that are being spent. Of course, you only actually feel better if someone actually looks up those websites.

So here we are: Stimulus money in Pittsburgh.

It's broken out into 6 categories, and I'll give an overview of each category.

1. Infrastructure & Economic Development
What's happening? This is by far the biggest piece of the pie. This breaks down into general infrastructure improvements, i.e. bridges and street-paving ($5 Million), Housing Authority money ($27 Million), demolishing vacant buildings ($4 Million), and money for sewer improvements ($17.8 Million).
Total: $53.8 Million
My Opinion: The general infrastructure improvements are clearly the bread and butter of the stimulus package. But general infrastructure improvements only make up 7% of the money here. I have to seriously question the huge allocation for the Housing Authority, especially given its recent pathetic audit performance.

2. Public Safety & Criminal Justice
What's happening? Technology, Equipment, Vehicles, Police Academy for the Pittsburgh Police
Total: $2.1 Million
My Opinion: Sounds to me like we're filling in normal budget shortfalls here, and the project notes are pretty minimal.

3. Energy Efficiency & Natural Resources
What's happening? Updating the City-County building for energy efficiency.
Total: $3.4 Million
My Opinion: I'm a little disappointed in this slice of the pie. This will affect one building in the city, but it will undoubtedly generate jobs and make that one building much better.

4. Workforce Development & Education
What's happening? Summer youth jobs, adult workforce development and adult training
Total: $3 Million
My Opinion: Creating jobs and helping put more people directly to work. I saw lots of signs around town recruiting for the summer youth jobs and they had a standard method for awarding those jobs fairly. This is a great example of stimulus spending.

5. Health & Social Services Safety Net
What's happening? Homelessness Prevention
Total: $6.8 Million
My Opinion: That's a lot of money for a broad description and no project notes. I think this one needs a closer watch. Seems like you could give an awful lot of people houses for $6.8 million. How many homeless people do we have in Pittsburgh?

6. Tax Credits & Fiscal Assistance
What's happening? NOTHING
Total: $0
My Opinion: Are we wasting potential money here?

Overall
What's happening? Clearly a lot.
Total: $69.1 Million
My Opinion: There definitely seems to be a combination of shooting low (tax credits, energy efficiency, general infrastructure), taking advantage of the system (housing authority) and band-aids for bad budgeting (police, sewers). A lot of good will come out of this for Pittsburgh. Plus, I give the city a bit of a break because there wasn't much time for planning on this. There's a clear lack of funding for public transportation options at this point, but I'm going to assume that falls at the county level. I also don't see anything to help out our ailing schools. Of course, not all of the stimulus money has been released yet. I'll keep watching.

Turning on the Firehose

Zoo President and CEO Barbara Baker was surprised to learn that the city of Pittsburgh wants to charge her for water. Additionally, she's under the impression that cities typically pay for water.

"But even when they [the zoos] are private, the cities they are in typically provide water, utilities, parking, security, those type of things to the zoo. Here we just get water," Baker said."

Unfortunately for her, the Post-Gazette writer called around. The nearby Cleveland and Maryland zoos both pay for their own water. After a brief search, I found that Denver, Philly, and Dodge City, Kansas each pony up for their water bill. Baltimore has only been paying for its water for the last 10 years or so, and in that time they've managed to reduce water usage by about 70% through conservation efforts. If I can have a water-saving shower head, so can the elephants.

My advice for Ms Baker? Pay for your water, but stick it to the man by reducing your water usage and adding less to the city coffers. And my advice to the city? Make these institutions pay for their water, but don't just turn the fire hose on them. Make a gradual plan to bring them up to full payment over the next few years - or only cover the first $100,000 giving them an incentive to conserve. Also, the Maryland Zoo is a bit behind on their water bill, so I wouldn't count on our zoo to save the city. For everyone else, if you like the zoo, maybe it's time to consider a donation and/or membership? Maybe if you live outside the city you can donate $1000 over the next 10 years on the stipulation that you can revoke your donation if the city ever gains the ability to tax you?

We're drowning

Thanks to the Post-Gazette for an in-depth article on the state of the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority's finances. The authority has been indulging in high-stakes swap contracts that I don't fully understand but seem born out of the recent sub-prime mortgage extravaganza and now crisis.

"Rating agency Standard & Poor's found that the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority's swaps presented low to moderate risk, with catastrophic results likely only if the credit ratings of JPMorgan Chase and Merrill Lynch plunge. "

In the recent and on-going crisis, I don't find the likelihood of any major bank plunging to be especially unlikely. And what about the slightly less than catastrophic results?

Time to set out the rain barrel. Luckily, it's Pittsburgh so we get lots of rain. For now, I'll just be thankful that the already exorbitant water and sewer rates in the city haven't climbed further and go do some laundry.

(reference: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08189/895289-53.stm)