Sewers and Tax Bills
I will be speaking to the people I know in every neighborhood between now and the election. This week one of the outstanding concerns of our Bridgewater residents is their sewer bill. It seems the Republican controlled administration and Council saw fit to change the time honored payment method for all sewer bills. In the past the bill was divided into thirds and payments were made in equal shares for the next year. Suddenly and without warning all residents and businesses were forced to make the entire payment on June 1, 2011.
The town benefited from this with an influx of cash to work with in payment of bills. It gained interest from this money to use as they saw fit.
The residents and businesses felt the exact opposite. The residents lost interest on their money and those that just didn’t have the cash was charged 18% any unpaid balance after June 1.
Speaking to our senior population I found they suffered more than other residents. The businesses were hit the hardest. One example given was a small warehouse operation is charged annually $12,000.00 for sewers. With no notification except the receipt of a sewer bill they had to pay the lump sum without the opportunity to schedule equal payments of $4,000.00. Taking that cash away from the business will hurt it the rest of the year.
As an Independent I will look to reverse this payment schedule and return to three annual payments.
I am already composing next week’s topic and I look forward to presenting issues like the sewer bills. Feel free to email your concerns and I will look into them. commtoelectgjones@gmail.com
George Jones
Independent Candidate
For Mayor of Bridgewater