For three months of every year we do not water our yard and plants. During these winter months our water bill is $29.68 and the sewer bill is $43.01; exactly the same each month. By March we start working in our yard and using more water, leading to a bill of $34.78. In the dry months of June and July, it was $44.98 and $47.53, respectively.

Our problem is that our sewer service bill is going up each month, too, but we are using the extra water in our yard with no extra sewer service or usage at all. Daphne set-up the billing that way, water equals sewage.

This year we will pay about $225. for sewer service without any sewer service at all. Why are we paying sewer service when the water is soaking into the ground?

Why has Daphne approved an increase in sewage fees by 16 percent? If I am overpaying by $250 per year for a small yard, how much extra does the sewer department really make? We will never be told. If my $250 per year beyond my actual $43.01 per month usage is average, the Daphne Utilities is one of the richest in the state.

There appears to be no logical explanation for a need to increase fees that will cost me and you over $300 this year without any additional service provided. We are going to pay $520 per year for a service provided or $850-900 per year with about half of what we pay going to a service we receive? Our government doesn’t give us a choice.

Susan Myers

Daphne