Quote:
Originally Posted by LuvtheVillages
You misunderstand.
The street lighting and parking lot lighting have always been in the maintenance budget, which you pay with your property taxes at the end of the year.
What's new is that the rate is increasing substantially.
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SECO Energy Announces Increase in Lighting Rates – SECO Energy
What is happening?
– We need to adjust the way we pay for and maintain area light poles in the communities we serve in order to be more accurate and fair to all our members. As a result, you may see an increase in your HOA dues or maintenance assessment in your municipal tax bill.
Why is this increase happening now?
– During the course of a recent cost of services study,
we discovered an imbalance in the costs borne by area lighting customers. SECO members in certain parts of our service area weren’t paying their fair share of the costs associated with area lighting.
– Our team alerted the members affected about these needed changes in May.
How will I be affected?
– You will likely see a change in your community maintenance fee. For the average homeowners this could amount to about $5 per month.
Why can’t it stay the way it is?
– SECO is a member-owned, not-for-profit utility. This means that our customers are all members of the co-op. We have a responsibility to all members to operate the utility as efficiently and fairly as possible.
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It just isn’t fair to all of our members if some communities are effectively subsidized by others, and it’s not good accounting. The new approach means that everybody pays their fair share.