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HISTORIC: CoMo City Council rejects biggest rate hike, demands financial accountability

HISTORIC: CoMo City Council rejects biggest rate hike, demands financial accountability

Pushing back on a bad deal  

COLU MBIA, Mo  9/21/17 (Feature) -- Columbia residents won a historic victory Monday night, when the Columbia City Council ( photo ) rejected an electric utility rate hike, demanded financial accountability, and asserted long-overdue control over the public purse. 

It was the first time in 20 years this writer has seen the Council push back meaningfully on the city manager's annual budget, and for all the right reasons: inequitable rate structures; poor customer service; financial non-transparency; and a $300 million Swiss bank account that grows by millions every year.  

Standout process
 
Council members raised almost every other rate -- water, trash, sewer, stormwater -- but their electric rate rejection stood out, for its outsized impact on household budgets; the re...

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CRAPPER CASH: CoMo City manager seeks 6% to 20% sewer fee hikes

CRAPPER CASH: CoMo City manager seeks 6% to 20% sewer fee hikes

Talk about a royal flush!  

COLU MBIA, Mo  9/18/17 (Beat Byte) --  Sewer rates and fees will go up Oct. 1, for the fourth time in as many years, if Columbia City Council members approve more than 90 rate and fee hikes city manager Mike Matthes is urging Monday night.

This final Daily Rate Hike report checks out the details. 

Two types of sewer rates are billed monthly: volume and base charges.  

Under the Matthes increases, renters and homeowners will pay a 6% higher base charge, from the current  $11.56 to $12.25 per month.

The residential volume charge will also rise 6%, from $2.38 to $2.52 per 100 cubic feet (cf) of sewage discharged.  An average-sized home or apartment discharges 2-7 cf of sewage per month. 

Commercial, office, and industrial (non-residential) users will also pay 6% more based on the si...

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TRASHING YOUR BUDGET: CoMo City Hall raising garbage rates for 4th time in 4 years

TRASHING YOUR BUDGET: CoMo City Hall raising garbage rates for 4th time in 4 years

Another Daily Rate Hike report

COLU MBIA, Mo  9/15/17 (Beat Byte) --  The bill you pay to haul trash away will go up -- again -- if Columbia city manager Mike Matthes convinces Council members Monday night to vote "yes" on an array of residential and commercial garbage hauling rate hikes . 

The increases would mark the fourth time Matthes has spiked garbage collection costs since 2011.  

Single-family, duplex, triplex  and four-plex residents will see their monthly rates rise 4%, from $15.42 to $16.04.
 
Apartment residents will also see a 4% monthly rate increase, from the current $14.67 to $15.26, for dumpster disposal.   Apartment owners and managers who use single billing for entire complexes will pay 4% more, $14.42 to $15.00 per apartment unit per month.

Major appliance pickup will rise 20%, from the ...

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CoMo PINOCCHIO: Is Matthes telling truth about falling sales taxes?

CoMo PINOCCHIO: Is Matthes telling truth about falling sales taxes?

The fibber-in-chief

COLUMBIA, Mo 9/7/17 (Beat Byte) -- Columbia city manager Mike Matthes' chief argument to raise rates, fees, fines, and taxes every year is that Internet sales are eating into the city's sales tax base.

This year, he is urging the City Council to pass over 90 rate and fee hikes . He also wants new property taxes to fund cops and roads.
 
But the city's audited financial reports rebut Matthes' claims. And it wouldn't be the first time the city manager has fibbed about a major issue .

Every year with the exception of a tiny $8,900 decline in 2016, city sales tax revenues rise an average 3.5%.

Other city tax and fee revenues also rise annually. When sales taxes fell modestly last year, fees increased nearly six percent -- their highest jump in years.
 
Here's what's really going on, from City of ...

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CITY HALL SWISS BANK ACCOUNT: Grows $184 million in 19 years

CITY HALL SWISS BANK ACCOUNT: Grows $184 million in 19 years


"WTH is going on?" 

COLU MBIA, Mo  9/11/17 (Beat Byt...
POWER BILL SHOCKER: CoMo electric rates to rise one to 8.5 percent

POWER BILL SHOCKER: CoMo electric rates to rise one to 8.5 percent

Big hits for renters, homeowners. Big breaks for b...
SWISS BANK CONTROVERSY: Roils CoMo City Council, city manager

SWISS BANK CONTROVERSY: Roils CoMo City Council, city manager

A brewing City Charter Crisis?

COLUMBIA, Mo 9/3/17 ...

MATTHES WANTS WATER BILLS HIKED: 10% to 600% in 2018

MATTHES WANTS WATER BILLS HIKED: 10% to 600% in 2018

A rich drink of water.    Yo ur Daily Rate Hike rep...
GARAGEZILLA-SIZED: Steep increases planned for downtown parking, bus fares for disabled

GARAGEZILLA-SIZED: Steep increases planned for downtown parking, bus fares for disabled

Merciless Mike?   Yo ur Daily Rate Hike report.

COLU...
CoMo MAYOR: Big concerns, questions about utility rate hikes

CoMo MAYOR: Big concerns, questions about utility rate hikes

Treece drops financial bombshell.  Straightening *...
STORMWATER FEES TO SURGE 20-25%: As CoMo utility rate hikes continue

STORMWATER FEES TO SURGE 20-25%: As CoMo utility rate hikes continue

Your Daily Rate Hike report

COLUMBIA, Mo  8/25/17 (...
STICKER SHOCK DEJA VU: Columbia again tops highest cost-of-living list

STICKER SHOCK DEJA VU: Columbia again tops highest cost-of-living list

An "honor" no city wants

COLUMBIA, Mo  8/23/17 (Bea...
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