EDITOR:

Well, it’s no shock these days to see the price of everything going up. After all, there’s a war in Ukraine.. Putin’s war. Right? Today, the headline read, “Living in Escanaba may soon cost more.” A few comments about that ‘planned’ increases in the cost of utilities and taxes. First of all, we just went through a budget cut discussion, where the local library survived budget cuts, yay. Others may have also. Good for them. But now we’re seeing where just living in this city will cost more? I know, I know, the city bills go up just as everything is going up these days. The city ‘buys’ electricity and sells it at whatever price they can to make enough money to then run the city. (And keep things like the library open and the Downtown Development paid) Water from the lake is sucked in and treated, and pumped up to that big tower and drained out at a cost to also make enough money to pay for the repair of pipes and wages and chemicals and such. Property is taxed for the same reason. We simply must keep the city going. Not everyone can side step the cuts needed in our city budget. But the library did. Whew. Good thing too. But now we find out that there’s a plan to ‘increase’ the cost of living in the city. They always say, “Planned” why? Because it provides them breathing space to await the complaints and input from the citizens, and perhaps back off their planned increases. When was the last time you saw the city ‘reduce’ rates for anything? I know, I know the cost of chemicals and labor have gone up (as there is a demand for higher wages and such because workers must be paid enough to ‘also live in this city. That’s the way of the world these days I guess. We are just supposed to suck it up if we want to live in this city. No, you cannot demand that the street outside your home be repaired or fixed. We live in a city full of potholes and crumbling curbs. This city just doesn’t have the money for it!. But they do have the Downtown Development to pay for, whew. Gotta keep Main Street looking nice. If ever there were a place to cut a budget on there would be a good place to start. But wait, that area of the city is a tax revenue area, right? This is were we hear that the planned cuts came first, but we just have to raise taxes and prices to make ends meet. Aren’t you glad the library survived the cuts?

Sure costs have gone up and up. What a time to also raise the rates too huh, at a time when groceries cost more, gasoline costs more, and everything costs more. Why not city utility rates too right?

Edward V. Stacey

Escanaba