What came of the novel idea of cutting expenses

The novel idea of cutting expenses rather than raising fees has disappered from the minds of the educated and those that chose to govern. A story from the Ft. Worth Star Telegram was forwarded to me, and the first thing that came to mine was cut expenses first. However, to those chosen to govern raising fees is the answer.

Expect a higher water bill later this year
By BILL HANNA
billhanna@star-telegram.com
Posted on Wed, Mar. 11, 2009

Your water bill is likely to go up later this year as higher fees charged to local water providers are passed along to customers.
Area cities like Fort Worth and Arlington could face sharp increases after the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality decided to raise fees last month.
The three fees — the consolidated water quality fee, the public health service fee and the water use assessment fee — are being increased to overcome a possible $30 million shortfall in agency operations.
Under the worst-case scenario, Fort Worth could see its fees for drinking water jump from $50,000 to $517,000 in 2010; Arlington officials say fees could jump from $24,000 to $220,000.
But the increases may not turn out to be that substantial.
At the Feb. 25 meeting, commission board member Larry Soward noted that an appropriations rider is circulating through the House and Senate that would provide $28.9 million over two years, cutting the projected shortfall nearly in half.
Water rates would still go up but not as much.
"We will need some sort of fee increase," Chris Hayden, financial analyst with the commission’s Chief Financial Officer Division, said at the Feb. 25 meeting.
The commission has scheduled a public hearing April 7 in Austin. A public comment period runs until April 13. Final rules are expected to be adopted July 22.

http://www.star-telegram.com/state_news/story/1250781.html