Water privatization in Haddonfield appears on the surface to be a good idea, but if you peel back the layers, it does not make sense. I attended the public meeting on June 25 pertaining to this topic and many of my fellow residents voiced valid reasons why privatizing our water is bad idea.
For starters, Commissioner Moscatelli repeatedly stated that our water bills will substantially increase due to the upgrades needed on our current system. New Jersey American Water is proposing to prolong the inevitable by instituting a three-year rate freeze. As residents, we will pay for the upgrades, whether we pay now or after the three-year rate freeze expires. We also do not know what the rate increase will be after the three year freeze. The “substantial” increase that Commissioner Moscatelli is theorizing may end up being a drop in the bucket since privately owned utilities charge 64 percent more than publicly-owned systems. (Source: Has Water Privatization Gone too far in NJ fact sheet)
Secondly, Commissioner Moscatelli stated that our water system has been mismanaged for years and we should sell our system to people who do this for a living. If our water system has been mismanaged for years, then how are we still delivering fresh water to residents every day? Who hired the individuals that mismanaged our water? It is hard to believe that Haddonfield cannot hire someone competent enough to administer our utilities in an efficient and cost effective manner.
FACT: your water bill will go up! It seems to me that Commissioners Rochford and Moscatelli and Mayor Kasko do not want to be the bad guys and deal with complaints from the community. It seems to me they are taking the easy route. I, for one, find it to be a shame that they are willing to sell off a $28.5 million dollar asset in order to avoid complaints.
