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Category: Readers' Opinions

■ 07 January 2008 | 6:51 AM

Taxed for nothing

My house is for sale in Virginia Beach, and I have since moved to Chesapeake. Recently, I had a wake-up call concerning the taxes and fees attached to utility bills.

Usually, when bills arrive I check how much they are, write the check and never really pay attention to the exact add-ons. However, this month I received a water bill from Virginia Beach that was over $55. The amount of water used: 0 gallons.

This is beyond outrageous.

Kathy Kaczmarczyk

Chesapeake

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Charles is wrong

Submitted by johnbo on Wed, 01/09/2008 at 8:55 am.

This is not a democratic way of doing things it is a socilist way. This also applies to the so called rain water taxes collected by the city to clean up the rain runoff from our streets before letting it go back into our rivers. This is nothing more than another gemmick to raise taxes and redistribute the wealth of the homeowners in our fair cities.

Well gee-whiz, Charles

Submitted by jimmyf on Tue, 01/08/2008 at 2:20 pm.

Then I guess you should pay taxes on a car you never bought to provide roads that you may or may not use.
What kind of socialist viewpoint is okay with a citizen being taxed on water when they didn't use any at all?

The cost of nothing?

Submitted by charlesm on Mon, 01/07/2008 at 11:11 am.

You call it the cost of having safe, potable water delivered to your home in any amount you require, whenever you want it, 24 hours a day. The alternative is to dig a well pump your own water and hope it is safe for human consumption, although you may still have to pay the city for their thoughtfulness to provide you and your neighbors with safe, potable drinking water at your home whether you use it or not. This is truly a democratic way of doing things wherein everyone shares in the cost of providing a very useful service to everyone now and in the future.