Unfortunately, all the money we pay for our utility bills doesn’t STAY in the utility funds. Through an unlawful scheme they call the Infrastructure Use Fee, the city has been siphoning $7 million a year out of the utility funds (where it can only be spent on the utilities) and into the general fund (where they can spend it on almost anything).
Then the city complains that the utilities need more money to do repairs, and they raise your rates. We have filed a lawsuit to make them stop these unlawful transfers, and to require that they return $22 million they wrongfully took over the past three years. Once this money is returned, it will help with some of the needed repairs, and stopping the annual transfers will provide additional funding.