Sunday letters: City must first care for people’s business

Since we can anticipate a water/sewage rate increase in Columbia in the near future, who is responsible for making sure that these funds are spent as they should be?

The State’s reporting has said that the utility customers’ payments were used as a cash cow in the past.

Where is the guarantee that this won’t happen in the future? Where have the diverted funds gone? If they were moved to the general fund, how were they spent? Did they just disappear into the fund, for anyone with a pet project to access? Does the manager of our city water and sewer system have any say in the matter?

And most important, who decides that the funds should be transferred, and how is this decision reached?

Utility customers have a lot of questions that should be answered.

Mayor Steve Benjamin and City Council members should forget about the “growth” of Columbia and attracting more business and industry until they address these issues.

If our existing population can’t have a firm promise of clean water and reliable sewer, they are not taking care of our business — the taxpayers’ business.

Columbia

This story was originally published March 28, 2015 at 8:00 PM.