Cathy Line: It’s not 63 percent, it’s an 80 percent water rate increase

Re “City council considers increase in water rates up to 63 percent” (Page 1B, May 5): The article outlines the proposal using increases during the next five years of 25 percent, 11 percent and 9 percent in each of the last three years, for a reported total increase of 63 percent. Actually the cumulative effect of these annual increases is 79.6 percent. This is confirmed in the body of the article where it is stated that an average water bill will increase from $41.77 to $75 over the five-year period. That is a nearly 80 percent increase.

This story was originally published May 6, 2016 at 10:56 AM with the headline "Cathy Line: It’s not 63 percent, it’s an 80 percent water rate increase."