City government: Sorry we made you use less water, now can you please pay for the water you didn't use?

Oh the irony of unintended consequences.

They cajoled, they scolded, they threatened, they raised the rates. The Midland, Texas, city leaders did all they could to get residents to use less water due to the shrinking reservoirs and the on-going drought. It worked. People took the matter seriously and curtailed their water usage like the good citizens they are.

Now the city is crying because the revenue from the residents' water bills isn't high enough.  The bureaucratic solution is to make residents pay more to make up for the short fall. So now citizens have to pay for the water they didn't use. Sigh. The citizens just can't catch a break.

Sometimes the jokes write themselves. If I weren't so lazy I would learn how to draw cartoons:

First panel: Mayor looking straight out at you and saying earnestly: "We are very proud of our ability to take a long range view and solve potential situations before they develop into problems."

Second panel: Mayor looking through the wrong end of a telescope at a glass of murky water. "It's half empty. No, it's half full. No wait, it's half empty."

Third panel: Mayor looking earnest again: "There is no temporary crisis that can't be cured by a permanent hike in your taxes, fees, and rates. You can thank us later."

Move over Garry Trudeau.

Comments

[Les]

C'mon now George. That's a little short-sighted isn't it? The city still has to maintain the same infrastructure. The same number of employees are needed to treat and deliver water and to read meters. I'd guess the cost of the water and the cost to treat it are a small part of the budget. But, that's just a guess.

[Geo]

Les, they boasted so much about how they were looking at the long term that it's hard sympathize when they expect rate payers to make up for their short sightedness.