tility rates are artificially inflated to pay for more than the cost of utility services.
That’s the truth that the city has openly acknowledged. And on the surface, the practice isn’t wrong, if the city is up front about it.
For 2019, the city projects $14.83 million in utility revenues and plans to transfer $3.55 million of those revenues into its general fund. That means nearly a quarter out of every dollar that comes in on utility revenues goes in the city’s general fund.
$1.6 million pays for personnel the city says have parts of their job related to utility service but not paid for directly by the separate utility service funds. At $65,000 a person, that would pay for 24 full time employees.
$1.2 million goes to helping keep property taxes down, according to the city manager. It should be noted that we had no difficulty obtaining these numbers from the city office, who have answered all our requests for information in a timely manner.
This information shows why Newton pays higher utility bills than surrounding communities.
(Read more: Newton Now)