Stacey Isaac Berahzer is a Senior Project Director for the Environmental Finance Center at the University of North Carolina, and works from a satellite office in Georgia.
In many states, ask a water utility manager the hardest part of her job and she will probably say it is facing the board/council/commissioners to ask for yet “another” rate increase! But, rate increases should happen “slowly, but surely.” At least under normal circumstances, the recommended practice is to raise rates by a little, but often enough to keep up with the rising costs of managing water resources and running a utility. So, this is, in essence, more bad news for the shy manager… not only should he request rate increases from his governing body, but he should do so often!
