17736_Authority_August

municipalauthorities.org | 13 By Tim Hagey, Executive Director, Warminster Municipal Authority If you and your authority want to succeed in keeping quality services with a local authority, provide great service. Great customer service will provide the seeds for community support in time of crises. Have a good relationship with PMAA as they can provide assistance and recommendations for help. When the Warminster Authority sale was discussed, these relationships were critical for successfully maintaining local control. Where for-profit water and sewer companies have successfully enticed local elected officials for an easy way out of their municipal budgetary messes, they use a mountain of cash - a large payout without the need to raise taxes! However, we all know how easy solutions to hard problems end. Customers who have already paid for their water and sewer systems will have to pay for them again with huge rate increases. Tony Bellitto, longtime PMAA leader testified in Harrisburg about privatization recently and had this to say - “People should see privatization for what it really is, which is a scam,” he said. “It is a loan, disguised as a gift, wrapped up with empty promises, that must be paid back with interest, through exorbitant rate increases…” Some Tips to Fight Privatization Every bill sent is an opportunity to include literature explaining the benefits of public ownership. Newsletters, PMAA special publications, websites, community events and meetings are additional opportunities to communicate with your customers. Do not wait until you are for sale – proactively promote the benefits of municipal ownership. The elected officials who appoint the authority board of directors need to be made aware of these benefits; develop relationships with your elected officials and make sure the great message of local municipal ownership is clear! To be successful fighting against the sale of public utilities, have clear easily relatable communications with your customers. Ask for help. The excerpt from the letter, found on page 14, was a critical rallying aid for a large community meeting. This meeting was well attended, and the communities’ voices were heard. Tony Bellitto spoke as an outside expert and helped sway the discussion. The elected officials voted to forgo a valuation for potential sale to a for profit entity! What was saved was local control of rates, water quality, and water and sewer services. Our customers did not have to pay for their water and sewer systems a second time. If there had been a quick sale six years ago and the for-profit regular rates would have gone into affect then, our 11,000 customers could have paid an additional $80,058,000 over six years! S F ighting P rivatization of P ublic W ater and S ewer S ystems – W in for your C ommunity !