Extremely High Water Bills

In her post on November 5, 2012, my colleague, Daily Casallo, discusses an article from KXAN News about high water bills and how they are being refunded. Citizens have noticed their water bill amount increasing and that they have not been paying attention to their bills. Daily states that some people are paying over $3,000 for their water bill. For those who believe their bill is abnormally high, they can call 3-1-1 and someone will come out and check and see if there are any leaks or anything else out of the ordinary. 

Just like Daily, I too started wondering if our water bill was what they consider "normal" or higher than usual. I do not pay the bill so I never know what the total bill is. I looked at our bill and from 9/20 to 10/22 for our Water Service we (total of 3 people) used 4,600 gallons for a total of $21.85 and for our Wastewater Service we paid $38.62. A $3,000 water bill is RIDICULOUS!!!!! After looking at our water bill, if ours was $3,000 we would be extremely confused as we don't possibly use that much water and would want a refund.

My only suggestion would have been to note that Austin Water Utility's billing is now being handled by Austin Energy and it is suggested that a new system that has been used since October 2011 may have had some hiccups resulting in the bill increases, according to the article. I think this is very important in explaining to the readers/customers the reason for why they are being billed outrageously. Everyone does have the right to be treated and billed fairly and also to question the price of the bill if they believe there is an error. It may be a common trend that people do not question the utility company and have been and continue to be billed in error and their money is going down the drain, just like their water...

Texas Death Penalty

         I found a story on My Fox Austin from Nov 3^rd about protestors marching to abolish the death penalty, which prompted me to do some research and see the numbers for myself. The Death Penalty Information Center states that in the United States since 1976, there have been a total of 1,312 executions and Texas is the leader with 489 executions. Not a big surprise to me. Texas loves capital punishment. Texas was the first state to use lethal injection in 1982, but of Texas’s 254 counties, 136 of them have never sent an inmate to death row (1976-present). A map of death sentences by county from Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty can be found (there is also a newer map from 2007-2010) which I found very interesting. It is crazy to see the exact numbers and how it varies in bigger cities compared to smaller ones. For example Harris County, the Houston area, has 200+ death sentences, which doesn’t surprise me because they have a high crime rate compare to smaller cities. Harris County is also the only county with 200+ death sentences. All of this data lead me to find the costs, which I have always been curious about and was amazed at the cost of a death penalty case which averages $2.3 million vs $750,000 for life in prison. Every Texas resident is contributing to the costs of death penalty appeals.

            I have never known where I stood on the issue of capital punishment. I could go back and forth all day. If someone murdered a person I loved deeply, I don’t know if I would want that person to be put to death and leave this Earth like my loved one did or if I would want them to be confined everyday with no possible chance of ever living their life the way they want. Will they really think about what they did? Will they be remorseful? Will prison change them or not? What I do know is the death penalty costs a whole lot more than life in prison and I don’t know that $2.3 million is worth it. I need to do some more research and hear what other people have to say about the issue. I don’t think I will ever fully know where I stand until I am put in this situation, but I hope I am lucky to never be in this type of situation.