Water rate worries

I too am concerned about our clean water in Whitefish. However, I would like to bring up a couple of points regarding the impending costs. 

With our senior discount, we are paying on average of about $40 per month. That’s up $15 per month from last year. That is an increase of about $180 per year. With approximately 4,200 residents in Whitefish, that’s about $63,000 per year extra the city is collecting now. They say that if the vote for an increase if 1 percent on the resort tax is turned down, our water rates are going to double and possibly triple! Make no mistake about it, even if the resort tax increase passes, our water rates will continue to rise. 

Now I’m sure somebody will come back and tell me that that increase is just the cost of doing business; however with the ever increasing taxation in this “resort community,” it’s getting harder, on a fixed income, to afford to live in my own house and still save a little money. Our once quaint little ski town has turned into nothing more than a playground for the wealthy. —John Lyman, Whitefish