Yet again, the Town of Stevensville is proposing another water and sewer rate increase.
As a homeowner and business person in the Town of Stevensville, I am opposed to another increase in the town’s water and sewer rates.
I own a rental home in town and wish to maintain the aesthetics of my property as well as my neighborhood on Heritage Street by ensuring that my tenants are able to water the lawns. Some of my neighbors on Heritage Street, and elsewhere in town, have elected to no longer maintain their landscaping and front yards due to the excessively high water rates the town charges. This devalues the real estate as well as makes Stevensville a less then desirable town in which to live.
Previous tenants have requested that I allow them to grow their own food in a backyard garden. I needed to decline this worthy request as I pay the water/sewer charges for my rental property and as much as I appreciate the importance of locally grown food, would not be able to afford the increased water usage. If I were to shift the water/sewer charges to my tenants I would have higher vacancy rates, as folks would no longer be able to afford the housing, thus having vacant and empty properties in the town.
If the town wishes to regain some already lost ground for being known as a nice place to live, it needs to enable people who own property in town the means to make it so. Ever increasing water/sewer rates are an obstacle to these ends and will continue to devalue real property, depress the town aesthetics, drive people out and keep others away.
Tom Kresan
Hamilton