Stormwater Utility Fee Still Upsets El Pasoans
POSTED: 6:01 pm MDT May 8,
2008
UPDATED: 8:35 pm MDT May 8,
2008
EL PASO, Texas -- On Thursday, homeowners, business owners and even school districts said they are still upset about how much they will pay for the stormwater utility fee.Last week, KFOX told you about The Original Blimp, a small business with a big parking lot in Central El Paso.KFOX caught up again with The Original Blimp owner Garry Hoff to see if he's happy with the Public Service Board's decision to lower the fee, and like many El Pasoans, Hoff said he's still unhappy."I believe that this city now needs to put signs up on each side of the city limits and says this city council is very, very unfair to business, and they don't like to have business come here very much," said Hoff.Hoff said the drop in the stormwater utility fee will help a little, but he said he believes this is far from being finished."37 percent, OK, big deal, so now what is it going to do, three years from now, does it up back to the same thing?" off told KFOX.Members of the Public Service Board said they have tried to do the best that they can since City Council gave them this responsibility."I hope that this gives an indication that there is an effort being made to try and equitably adjust the rates to accommodate the public without acquiescence the responsibility that we have," said Ruben Guerra, Chairman of the Public Service Board.Guerra said he does not take the responsibility lighty."We knew it was going to be a difficult task," said Guerra.When KFOX first met Hoff last week before the fee drop, he said, "I already cut hours for my people."Now that he won't have to pay as much for the stormwater utility fee, Hoff said he can give back some of those hours, yet he said he believes the damage has already been done."They have to survive, and they need it, so cutting out one day could make a big difference for them to pay for a car or pay for part of a house or something like that," said Hoff.
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