Sewer Lateral Fees — Up Again

Sewer lateral fees: the infamous “bait and switch” scheme sold to us by former DPW head Rick Jones as a sort of insurance plan to protect homeowners from the big hit of a five figure sewer lateral repair bill.

This scheme was never about the homeowner. That was only the bait. It has always been about increasing fees and taxes on property owners to get more money into the DPW coffers.

At least our new “customer oriented” DPW chief, Mark Yalen, dropped the homeowner protection gig. And I thank him for relieving us of that deceptive claim.

I realize that many of you genuflectingly trust the DPW staff assessment of the condition of our sewer system. I attribute that to your lack of concern for taxpayers and your lack of knowledge of sewer systems.

When Mark Yalen proclaimed the EPA threat, that did it for me. I don’t trust the evaluation of someone who would use such a scare tactic. I want a second opinion. You get second opinions when you get advised of a serious medical, legal or financial condition, don’t you? Just because you, yourself, don’t understand the condition does not mean you should consider the advice of Mr. Yalen as infallible. It isn’t. It needs to be checked. And I advise you use a group like the Racine Taxpayers Association in finding that second opinion. Otherwise that second opinion will most certainly be one with a vested interest in proclaiming another “worst case scenario.”