Earlier this month, we were treated to the lovely surprise that electric rates are going up. This was AFTER the Dispatch told us TWICE that “the budget will NOT include an increase in utility or tax rates”.
Some awesome lady in the peanut gallery stood up and let council know she was not happy with the electric rate hike. Herb Pearce (a new council member) was quick to jump in and blame it on the February freeze and said money needed to be raised:
Herb Pearce: “I think the City took a $1.5 million dollar hit this last year during the freeze…and didn’t raise it [rates] a bit? And they didn’t pass that along to the citizens? In order for us to be prudent in what we’re doing, this is what needs to happen.”
OK. Fair enough. Maybe that’s true. It’s hard to know WHAT is true anymore because back at the February 22nd meeting, then-mayor Talbert AND Finley told a very different story about the electricity situation. Herb Pearce was NOT on City council at the time, but many other Goldfish were – Monroe, Kuehne, Williamson and Clark.
It all starts at the 20 minute mark on the video. I’ll give you some highlight quotes below as they talk about the electric fund and money situation:
Talbert: “It’s important for the people watching at home to know: the position that we are in in terms of the utility rates we pay is accredited to one person and one person only – his name is Finley deGraffenreid….0ur risk has been mitigated by his ability to broker deals for us and secure us not knowing that something like this would happen, but in the event that it has we come out on top. When it comes to utility rates, that’s who you thank right there” [points to Finley]
Finley: “Our contracts are currently fixed-pricing…so the pricing from our wholesale suppliers per kilowatt will not change”
Finley: “We are financially healthy…our electric department does carry adequate reserves to overcome the temporary spike”, “I think this is a bump that we just absorb because we are healthy financially….the impact…is pretty negligible…but we are certainly in a position to absorb that if council so chooses”
Talbert: “I would like submit that the City absorb the cost instead of passing it on”
So who is the liar? Guess I better go add this to the Talbert Report Card: F