Article content

Chalk one up for taxpayers.

It doesn’t happen very often but last week, after intense push-back from taxpayers over another planned rate hike to their water bills (you know, the ones Mayor Brian Bowman and city council have been using as back-door tax increases for the past several years) members of the city’s executive policy committee said “uncle.”

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or BRODBECK: Taxpayers win on water bill freeze Back to video

For the first time in many years, they voted to freeze water and sewer rates for 2019.

The reason given was they wanted assurances from senior levels of government that funding was on the table to help pay for expensive upgrades to treatment plants. But that wasn’t the real reason. Not having iron clad commitments from the province and the federal government on how much they were willing to pay for treatment plant upgrades never stopped city council before from gouging taxpayers with utility bill hikes of 5%-10%. Why would this year be any different?