The Editor,
Re. "Shift in water rates in Coquitlam" (The Tri-City News, Nov. 19).
I'll admit up front that I am an owner of a single-family home in Coquitlam, so I do have a bias as I read the article on the impending shift in the burden of financing the city's water utility from multi-family residences to single-family homes.
I'll also admit the I am a bit of a cynic so I'm naturally suspicious of the timing and motive of this announcement, right after a civic election, in which the electorate did not have the ability to question the candidates on this issue. It's the timing of this announcement that has compelled me to write this letter.
There are two ways to think of water supply.
You can either think of it as a public service where every property owner shares the cost of the service equally, with each owner having the same right to access to the service. Other services traditionally provided this way are local home telephone service, or cable TV, and your use of these services does not affect the rate you pay.
The other way to view water supply is as a commodity whose cost is based on use and access to the commodity depends on one's ability to pay.
Thus, differentiating the rate between single-family and multi-family homes is a step towards commoditizing our water resource.
Despite representations made to the public, water is cheap and plentiful in our region and, at $426 per year ($35.50 per month), it is cheaper than both my phone and cable service. Most of us don't worry about how much time our fellow residents are watching TV or using the phone, so why differentiate the cost of water based on perceived use?
I would argue that arbitrarily choosing a differential rate between different classes of dwelling is just that - arbitrary. What could be fairer than each property owner equally sharing in the cost of providing a service to which we all have equal access?
There should at least be a public debate on this issue prior to its implementation, preferably prior to the next civic election in four years' time.
Mike Carver, Coquitlam
