Goochland, VA—Some Goochland residents
are speaking out against a hike in their water bills, after water rates jumped
this summer.
"I
was looking for leaks, I was looking to see if somebody attached a garden hose
to my house, because I was paying for 5,000 gallons I wasn't using," says Baird
Stokes. He took notice of the increase, after his water bill jumped nearly $20
in just one month.
Goochland County levies a set price on
any resident using less than 8,000 gallons of water. In some areas, the set
price translated into a 43 percent increase in water bills.
Stokes
expressed his frustration with the new law to 8News: "Why should a one-person
household pay as much as a five- or six-person household? Why should I have to pay more than that
household per gallon of water? It's irritating."
Goochland County
Administrator Becky Dickson says the system is still working through some
kinks. "We are a young system and we don't have a lot of customers, so we're
still stabilizing with the revenues," she says. "So basically, rate increases
were needed to stabilize the income of the system."
The county plans to
review the system sometime early next year.
Copyright 2012 by Young Broadcasting of Richmond
