Duenweg voters voiced their resentment toward a Joplin rate hike loud and clear on Tuesday when they approved a $6 million bond issue to build a wastewater treatment plant.
But, in what appears to be backlash against the city of Joplin’s out-of-city sewer rate increase, have the voters failed to demand from Duenweg city officials solid numbers for the costs associated with building the plant?
Mayor Russell Olds said city leaders did not want to spend the $30,000 to $100,000 it would cost for a rate study and an engineering study, so they don’t really know how much it will cost to build the plant. The $6 million figure on the ballot question is only an estimate.
Here’s what Olds told the Globe on Tuesday after voters passed the bond issue 112-29:
“We’re going to make sure that what we think we know, we know is correct, and that every step of the way we stay in touch with the public and keep them informed, and not make any moves without knowing we have informed the community.”
We understand why Duenweg ratepayers were upset last year when the Joplin City Council raised all categories of sewer rates and then tapped out-of-city users with an additional 30 percent surcharge hike. Joplin did not do a good enough job explaining to Duenweg about the need for the increase. Had Joplin made more of an effort, perhaps it would not have fed the backlash.
But Duenweg ratepayers deserve more than a “what we think we know” response from their own city leaders.
If costs associated with building the new plant exceed the $6 million estimate, then, in our view, Duenweg must return the question to the voters.
