Today's Letters: Private utilities are no bargain

By LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published July 18, 2007

After reading the July 3 Aloha Utilities quarterly report submitted to the Public Service Commission, I can see that Aloha Utilities is still in the blame game rather than taking responsibility for its actions. Aloha will never install the correct equipment to remove hydrogen sulfide. Aloha does not care if we have black, smelly water in our homes.

It is time for our county commissioners to put extreme pressure on Aloha Utilities to sell at market price or the commissioners need to start the condemnation process. This purchase process needs to start now.

A number of government policies direct states and cities to favor government ownership of infrastructure enterprises.

The identical airport terminal, toll bridge, water utility or wastewater plant is treated in one way by federal law if it is government owned and in a radically different way if it is owned by investors.

The interest on bonds issued by government enterprises is tax exempt, which translates into higher debt-service costs for investor-owned infrastructure (as well as reduced federal revenue). Further, government-owned enterprises are generally exempt from local property taxes and both federal and state income taxes.

Federal grant and regulatory policies also discriminate against a facility owned by investors, as compared with the identical facility owned by a state or city government.

In addition to the extra level of taxes on private utilities, there is also the 4.5 percent fee private utilities are assessed to pay for the PSC service regulation and income taxes. On top of taxes and fees paid by the customers, private utility operators are then assured a significant profit no matter how bad the service and water provided.

Private utilities pay a significantly higher interest rate on borrowed funds than a county. Aloha now has about $40-million in debt being financed by customers at a significant high interest rate.

Of course there is also the "Aloha Factor" - no trust or credibility!

Private utilities are clearly an extra level of burden on their customers.

Richard Power, New Port Richey

Follow the laws covering animals

There are many different laws concerning animals. There are dos and don'ts for dog owners.

When you walk your dog, you should pick-up their waste. In some neighborhoods it is a must!

You wouldn't appreciate your child to ride his bicycle through it then track it in the house. Or if you live next door to someone with more than one dog and they let the animals dispose in their back yard. Try sitting in your back yard, it won't be a pleasant smell.

Then there are armadillos, raccoons, rats, opossums and squirrels that all have to eat and drink and dispose of their waste.

We do have raccoons and rats in every neighborhood. The more we build the more we disturb them. They are dirty and can be annoying, but they were here before us.

I found an opossum in my garbage pail. What a surprise.

Cecilia LaGrutta, Port Richey

Cat Snip program receives kudos

My wife and I would like to thank the organizers of the very first county run Operation Cat Snip program. Pasco County Animal Control provided us with the traps. We trapped feral cats in our back yard.

On June 17, we brought in 10 feral stray cats to Pasco County Animal Control to be spayed, neutered and get a rabies shot. The following day, we released the stray cats in our backyard wooded area.

Nine of the cats we brought in were females. Now, with the cats being spayed through Operation Cat Snip there will be no more pregnant cats, no more kittens and the cats are much happier as well. We feed them every morning, and as soon as we tame them, they will be getting good homes. We adopted three of the strays as our own cats.

There are 55,000 stray cats in Pasco County. Feral cats breed uncontrollably; 55,000 strays could turn into much higher numbers in just a few years. If the Operation Cat Snip program continues, stray cats in Pasco County will decline, rabies in cats will decline and less suffering for cats and kittens will result.

Thank you to all the heroic and kind efforts of Pasco County Animal Control, Pat Mulieri of the County Commission and all the volunteer veterinarians and technicians who made Operation Cat Snip such a big success.

George Tarnowski, Port Richey

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[Last modified July 17, 2007, 23:09:41]