posted on Feb, 16 2016 @ 08:28 PM
Do the people of Flint, Michigan, or countries not as fortunate as Canada have it worse than what I'm going to rant about? Yes, but I'm still going
to do it.
I live in Nova Scotia, Canada, in a small town with a relatively high tax rate. We're a town of about 2500 and the property tax rate is at %2.05.
Our amenities are trash collection, general town maintenence, a volunteer fire department, twice a week dedicated police presence, and a tiny library,
you can also lump in the other things like business development etc that don't take up a huge budget in a town this small.
Included in "general town maintenence" is the day to day running of our water treatment plant. Every homeowner or tenant also pays a water bill of
$10 per 1000 gallons plus a quarterly base charge dependent on the size of your water meter. Our water comes from our namesake river, which is red and
muddy as it gets. For the most part, by the time it gets to the tap, it's clear as day. Thank you modern technology.
But, four to five times every year, for a few days ranging to 3 weeks at the longest, the water gets high in the river, and our treatment plant just
can't keep up with the silt. The water is unusable for bathing, drinking, washing clothes.
Every year at town meetings, this is brought up. New treatment plants are proposed, but we are always told that no treatment method would work well
enough to be worth the cost of the plant.
Last year, our town proposed a MILLION DOLLAR LIBRARY/TOWN HALL...for a town of 2500. Residents said, no way, get us a new treatment plant or lower
our taxes instead. Nothing was done.
Now, our town council has been paid (in my opinion/allegedly) to pass a deal with a gas company to sell our river water to help them clean up salt
deposits for a gas project. After the water does it's job, the super salinated water will be pumped back into our river, altering a habitat that
houses many fish species and spawning grounds, which in turn feed a plethora of animals as well as locals.
The water is still going to come to our taps: HOW THE $&!@ ARE YOU GOING TO CLEAN IT, WHEN YOU CANT KEEP UP WITH A LITTLE EXTRA MUD?