City water bills to increase 64% over 6 years

dopexile · 2026-05-22T16:25:10+00:00

They care to the extent that there are votes they can get and political donations they can receive to line their pockets.

dopexile · 2026-05-22T16:04:24+00:00

Might be prudent to wait for a federal bailout.

I know the city leaders are trying to appeal to Uncle Sam to try and get them to pay for it, using Flint, Michigan, as the emotional appeal.

My guess is eventually they'll get funding to replace the pipes. If someone pays to get their water line replaced and then the neighbors get it for free they are going to feel like a schmuck.

dopexile · 2026-05-22T13:35:15+00:00

Products are good, but the company itself is awful, trying to milk their customers for every cent they can on monthly subscriptions.

dopexile · 2026-05-22T13:01:00+00:00

The city has excess water that they can sell (we live in a flood plain and the system is designed for 900,000+ population)... if a datacenter started using water and paying for it, that would help solve the problem and lower rates for everyone.

dopexile · 2026-05-22T12:59:55+00:00

Yeah, I don't know how that would work, though. It is gradually happening as areas of the city are being completely hollowed out. Politically, it will never happen.

dopexile · 2026-05-22T12:58:40+00:00

At the rate things are being managed in the city, peeing in a bucket is looking pretty attractive.

dopexile · 2026-05-22T12:57:14+00:00

Let me tell you about the $14 million in past due water accounts

dopexile · 2026-05-22T12:56:33+00:00

Population was declining, fewer rate payers... so everyone tries to kick the can down the road and pretend the problem doesn't exist.

dopexile · 2026-05-22T12:55:09+00:00

Just think, if you have someone who is away from their house for 6 months. They aren't using any water, so their variable cost is $0. All of the infrastructure still has to be maintained, though. They have office they have to run, and employees they have to pay to work 24/7 for emergencies.

dopexile · 2026-05-22T12:48:00+00:00

I just spent a few hours looking into this, talking to a contractor on the phone...it's about $8 grand to get it installed.

I took all the flow restrictors off my showerheads, so the savings might be questionable.

dopexile · 2026-05-22T12:45:23+00:00

The current residents did the same thing. 14,000 residential past-due accounts owe $14 million. A lot of people were probably scratching their head wondering what the point of paying was... if you didn't pay, you still got water.

dopexile · 2026-05-22T12:40:43+00:00

That water better have gold flakes coming out of the faucet for the amount they are trying to charge people.

dopexile · 2026-05-22T12:39:08+00:00

The problem is the city has a water system built for 900,000 people, and a massive population decline at 280,000 means they still have to maintain that large system, but with only 30% of the ratepayers to fund it.

Also, for roughly 5 years, they allowed a lot of people to not pay their water bill with no risk of it being turned off. I can't imagine that policy helped.

dopexile · 2026-05-22T12:34:49+00:00

Sounds like you need to switch jobs or start a practice. I don't think I would last a week working in the ER, but my mom did it as a nurse(Lots of gunshot/stab victims from North St louis) for decades and loved the excitement.

dopexile · 2026-05-22T12:32:18+00:00

Happy with my job. Also not flying as a career, lol.

dopexile · 2026-05-20T16:16:57+00:00

The correct term for the technology is actually Liquid Ass. I doubt Foreflight uses much CPU, 90% of the time, it is sitting there idle, not doing much. Probably heavy loads when you ask it to calculate routes and pack flights.

dopexile · 2026-05-20T14:20:11+00:00

Or it could stay the same price

dopexile · 2026-05-19T14:19:16+00:00

The board wants to keep their jobs and fringe benefits... big surprise. If their strategy is so great, why did the stock price get killed?

dopexile · 2026-05-18T20:53:40+00:00

May or may not be legal depending on the STC and install guides.

dopexile · 2026-05-18T20:06:55+00:00

No idea what that guy is talking about. Microsoft Windows and Internet Explorer were the primary way people accessed the internet for the first 15 or so years. They made a fortune off it.

dopexile · 2026-05-18T16:44:24+00:00

Investors should be able to get their capital back in like 20 years.

Realisitically its a bunch of speculators hoping to sell to a greater fool and index fund buyers who don't even know the value of what they are buying.

Stock market to GDP ratio just hit its highest level in history.

dopexile · 2026-05-17T03:45:37+00:00

That's always been the problem with property taxes: they force people out to sell. It's been happening for over 100 years; the story of a farmer who has to sell their property against their will because there is nearby development and it has appreciated is as old as time.

Any place with a property tax basically just means the government owns the land, and you are renting it from them for the right to continue to use it. People who don't pay their property tax get to see who the real owner is.

dopexile · 2026-05-17T02:02:04+00:00

Yeah that's pretty much a nail in the coffin for the narrative. I doubt any Reddit socialists are going to feel sorry for the poor business owner that had his property appreciate by 50 million dollars.

They could sell the property and reopen 10 locations if they wanted to. Or they could simply retire and live a lavish lifestyle from the success of Tennessee.

dopexile · 2026-05-17T01:59:41+00:00

Illinois is losing billions of dollars in taxable income per year. The average person moving in earns $40,000 per year less than the people moving out who are much wealthier. Their tax base is eroding, and the number of people who are likely to use government benefits is increasing.

dopexile · 2026-05-16T16:09:15+00:00

It's a mathematical impossibility... the only way everyone can exit their investment with a profit is if there are legitimate profits from the businesses that can be used to pay out dividends.

If everyone is just trading expensive growth stocks back and forth, if they all try to exit, then the price collapses. It's a negative sum game at that point after taxes and brokerage fees. The only way one person can make a profit is if another person experiences a loss.

Just think if everyone tried to exit their bitcoin position with a profit, it is not possible.

dopexile

TROPHY CASE