Marble Hill water, sewer system

One of the inherent problems with municipal utilities is that officials keep utility bills lower than they should for political purposes. Politicians are more concerned with keeping constituents happy and getting re-elected than they are with the state of the utility infrastructure in the future. Marble Hill is a perfect example of that. The city has been unable to make necessary investments in its water system because elected officials have dramatically underpriced services. Now, the city faces painful choices of substantial price increases for overdue improvements or fines from regulatory agencies.

The politicians who put Marble Hill into this mess should not be trusted to get it out of the mess. Marble Hill should sell its water and sewer system to a private operator, like other cities in Missouri have done. Private water utilities in Missouri efficiently operate systems across the state, and do so with less political interference than municipal utilities. By privatizing its water and sewer services, Marble Hill would get paid for the asset, expand its tax base and, most important, allow water professionals to make the required changes without political pressure. Water and sewer rates in Marble Hill are going to increase in any scenario, but privatization gives Marble Hill taxpayers the best long-term option to improve the water infrastructure and hold down government costs.

DAVID STOKES, policy analyst, Show-Me Institute, St. Louis