The Editor:
Re: New utility rates to take effect in New Westminster on Jan. 1, 2024 (Dec. 29, 2023)
Here’s an idea that might have some utility.
New Westminster residents are facing a property tax increase, a continuation of the climate tax on electric bills, and an increase in electric rates.
Some of the money raised from the property and climate taxes will go to increasing the city bureaucracy.
The majority of city council members have defended the levies, with one saying the climate tax amounts to only "a few dollars."
Families and individuals, especially seniors, are already struggling with inflation and high interest rates and every dollar counts.
So here’s my idea: we scrap the New Westminster Electrical Utility and let BC Hydro take over. After all, Hydro already supplies the power.
The two biggest cites in Metro Vancouver, Vancouver and Surrey, do not have their own power utility. So, why does New Westminster?
How much could the city save by not operating its own utility?
It must be lots more than "a few dollars" — dollars that would stay in taxpayer’s wallets.
- David Lang, New Westminster
