Attention

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent our advertisers

Sunday, October 15, 2017

A Viewer Writes: New Salisbury water bill charges

Good morning Mr. Joe! If you have covered this issue in the past, please forgive me because I must have missed it but I find that hard to believe because I am a multiple times a day reader. I just got my new water bill from the City of Salisbury and one of the increases is a $15.00 fee for Bay Rest R. I am assuming it is for restoring the Chesapeake Bay. I don't buy Save the Bay tags, I don't contribute on my income taxes but Salisbury is forcing me to pay??? I intend to find out if there is an option to opt out.

Loyal reader and follower,
Cindy

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Cindy ,
I will inform you that the scam"Bay restoration" has been going on for many years . This has got to be the largest scam in history . I will never contribute to it because they never give you any FACTS about how the money is spent and what success they have had. I'm now 74 years old and as far as I can remember it's has been all BS at the highest level. Mr. Boy Jake Day has crossed a line that could be punished by jail. Your city is in deep $hit and he's trying his best to get out of jail free. If you guys would hire an out of town lawyer with good credentials it would help. Just remember he will push till it hurts.

Anonymous said...

Cindy, your sewage is treated and dumped into the Wicomico River, and ends up in the Chesapeake Bay. When there is a heavy rainfall, and it has happened often, your sewer plant discharges thousands of gallons of untreated sewage into the river. Salisbury, and all the other municipalities, need to pay their part for the damage done by their treatment plants. Why should everyone else have to pay for the damage from city sewage plants on the Chesapeake Bay?

Anonymous said...

You guys voted for a child to make important decisions , so suffer till the end of his term .

Anonymous said...

8:12 (the second 8:12) I think people have a hard time paying for something they do not directly see the impact of or do not understand. Cue our current EPA

Anonymous said...

The sewage treatment plant does not dump every year into the Wicomico river it has happened in the past but it's not every year. Most of the polluting comes from the western shore but MD turns a blind eye because of all the money the perps generate.

Anonymous said...

There are 2 opt outs. Move out of Salisbury and move out of MD.

Anonymous said...

Ladies and gents , the issue is Mr. Day has made a decision to tax the it's residents in the form of a Bay restoration tax. Does this really go towards the Bay or is it a sly way to fund his games in the city ? Either way it's not legal , get some professional help you guys or you will go down with this fast sinking ship.

Anonymous said...

I was just thinking about a solution to restore the bay , it's always been said that the oysters do a tremendous job of cleaning the bay , so just stop harvesting the oysters for a few years like they did with rock fish . Of course this is way too simple of a solution , we would have to form a committee and then come to a vote and pay people to do a study . Then the people who work the water would bitch enough to shut the idea down. The money spent every year could pay all the water men an above average scale , but then they wouldn't be able to steal any harvest. I guess it's a lose lose situation.

Anonymous said...

October 10, 2017 at 8:12 AM:

Right on! My septic system has NEVER made a direct discharge into the Chesapeake Bay, or any of its tributaries, and yet I pay a county tax to help pay for nitrate reduction. Towns and cities do more harm that all the septic systems put together, with their "occasional" dumping of thousands and thousands of gallons of raw sewage into our rivers. Ms. Cindy, and the rest of the Salisbury residents, need to pay their fair share.

Anonymous said...

Here's the skinny:

The Bay Restoration Fee is a fee established by the State of Maryland. The County is required to collect this fee for the State. Effective 7/1/2012, the Bay Restoration Fee will increase to $15.00 per quarter charge ($60 per year) on the sewer or water bills of property owners served by public utilities.

Each residential dwelling that receives an individual sewer bill and each onsite sewage disposal system or holding tank that receives a water bill is subject to a $5.00 monthly fee.

Each user of an onsite sewage disposal system that does not receive a water bill and each user of sewage holding tank that does not receive a water bill is subject to a $60 annual fee.

NOTE: The fee for some users in Garrett County and Ocean City where the wastewater does not drain into the Chesapeake Bay or the Coastal Bay watersheds(surface or ground water) will remain at the existing fee rate of $2.50 for each residential dwelling and $30 per year per septic or holding tank.
*********************
The city only collects it and hands it to the county, which hands it to the state. The city's billing saves the county the postage and printing that would be required if it billed directly. If it were't done this way, the county would bill directly and be on the hook for thousands annually, with no reimbursement for billing by the state.

Anonymous said...

The bill for county residents not in city limits comes directly from the county, doesn't it?

Steve said...

Here's the rest of the "skinny" All that money raked in to "Save the Bay" does absolutely NOTHING toward cleaning, filtering, treating or preventing any polluted water in the Bay. It all goes to the article writing, bumper sticker printing, brochure suppliers' salaries so they can all get together at the end of the year and collectively say, "C+!" or "D+", whatever.

The first Commenter has it absolutely correct, Cindy.

Anonymous said...

Salisbury isn't forcing you to pay, the state is forcing the county to collect. Salisbury is just the bill collector.

Anonymous said...

839am, don't move to VA either. Lots of taxes on personal property. Personal vehicles, recreation vehicles, watercraft, etc. Then depending upon the location, additional local county and city taxes. Chesapeake Bay taxes are in VA too!!!!

Go further south where you get much more bang for your buck!! Beware though, each state further south is much different than up north. Some still live in the pre 1960's; assimilate or be labeled an outcast; do not talk about who won the Civil War; don't flash the cash or you will lose it; etc., etc., etc.

Anonymous said...

11:19 I became a FL resident 8 years ago. Bought while the market was down in FL. Property has more than doubled since then. No state income tax and I still get to enjoy my MD property 4-5 months out of the year. All vehicles and boats are no registered there - even the ones I use up here. Saving money on registration and insurance too.

Anonymous said...

All for money and to keep you poor... You will see, once the fees get so high and you can't afford them anymore and they take your house... you will see... Because after all, not paying a few hundred dollars in a water/sewer bill with late charges added is worth a house right???

And you people think you are free... Stupid is as Stupid does...

Anonymous said...

October 10, 2017 at 8:27 AM

Nobody has said that the sewage plant dumps raw sewage into the river every year, just that it has happened repeatedly in the past.

Anonymous said...

8:19
BTW, we didn't elect him. He only needed one vote to win...his own. I know of no one who voted for him.