I attended my town's commission meeting last night. They're reviewing water/sewer rates. The consultant has recommended an increase of approximately 9.5%, and I suspect the commission will take the consultant's advice. The average resident will pay an extra $2.50 per month. That means the average resident is paying $26.30 a month now.
I'm willing to bet that people will be screaming. "Almost $30.00 a month to get running water and flush your toilet!"
But when you think about it, what would you pay for such a service if it weren't so commonly available? If you move to an isolated area and the builder says, "I can give you cable TV for $80 a month or running water for $80 a month," which would you take? It's a no-brainer, unless you like chamber pots, moon-crescented doors, and pumping cold water from the ground to wash your face.
In economics, the consumer is king. The pricing mechanism is "What are consumers willing to pay for X, Y, or Z?" which is the same thing as asking, "What value do consumers place on X, Y, or Z?" Excepting Grizzly Adams and the Shoe Bomber, all consumers would place a high value on running water. We just don't know it, which is pretty much the same thing as saying we're spoiled.
