Fund Waterworks & City Infrastructure

@Jonathan Ferry a daunting task. No doubt. But only that amount of money will give us a start to keep our citizens is safe clean water. I can think of no more important use.

@Margot Cavanaugh I do not disagree with you on the importance of having safe, clean water. I do think there are better ways to get there than using the $250 million. For starters, the Water Division was always envisioned to be funded by operating revenues through billing for water services. The fact that it has run into such a deficit is more the result of putting pricing decisions into the hands of elected officials who understandably wanted to avoid the implications of having to vote to raise everyone's water bill, rather than in the hands of financial experts who could set prices based solely on the actual financial realities facing the Water Division. Of course, the problem has been exacerbated by the loss of population and businesses over the years, which has reduced demand without reducing the cost to supply customers. But in my opinion, a sustainable solution to this problem will require 1) basing pricing decisions for water rates solely on the economics and not on politics, which means removing rate decisions from the direct control of the aldermen (either by selling the Water Division, or by releasing it under the control of a separate board of technocrats) and 2) investing into the redevelopment of the city so as to regenerate the demand base for water services to better match with the supply of the infrastructure. Without doing the above, no amount of one-time capital injections into our infrastructure (water or otherwise) will be financially sustainable.

@Jonathan Ferry ony invest from the full amount what is needed to get a new issuance of revenue bonds (unless that can be done without waiting several years). Same with 911 Dispatch--only invest to make up the difference (I think $10 million short). Keep the rest to do local matching and the like. Keep it invested and only use interest for infrastructure needs or to grow the fund.

@Jonathan Ferry a Thoughtful response. I tend to agree that these decisions that are such vital importance should be taken out of the hands of politicians. With the best of intentions there's always a tendency to find your pet project. There will be a water Wars. As water becomes scarce on this planet we do need to watch every drop. We do need to find the best usage of the resources we have. My neighborhood at this point is sometimes waking up to no water. Water has a bad smell. Water has a strange taste. And that are open hydrants and brakes that have been running since May. We pay for clean water. It is the least the city and everyone else deserves looking forward

@Elaine Laura as much as I don't like to say this, at this point, the most practical way to fix our water infrastructure and ensuring things like metering our usage are put into place may be to put the water division up for sale. I have not seen the numbers specifically for the water system, but I know from doing evaluations on our streets and other infrastructure that it is very likely that $250 million will only cover a fraction of the need.