Hello Middleburg! The Eccentric had some last minute publication issues and were not able to include diagrams in my column last month. I also saw that Vincent Bataoel "disputed" my September column on social media with more faulty cost numbers for town utility bills. He also made similarly reckless statements regarding Middleburg's budget.

The utility data I analyzed include combined bills for water and sewer service costs, as that is the norm for town residents. The numbers Mr. Bataoel posted on social media appear to exclude sewer costs, comparing us to Hamilton and to Leesburg. Hamilton has 61% of its 753 customers residing outside of town, paying higher rates. Leesburg is a town with over 50,000 in-town residents plus many thousands of outside water customers and are of a scale with which we can never compete. A new mayor (or council) cannot change our utility costs much, because they reflect reality. That reality is a utility with only 484 customers.

Since the tables and charts were missing last month, they are below. The utility data I analyzed include combined bills for water and sewer service costs, as that is the norm for town residents. The numbers Mr. Bataoel posted on social media appear to exclude sewer costs, comparing us to Hamilton and to Leesburg.

Hamilton has 61% of its 753 customers residing outside of town, paying higher rates. Leesburg is a town with over 50,000 in-town residents plus many thousands of outside water customers and are of a scale with which we can never compete. A new mayor (or council) cannot change our utility costs much, because they reflect reality. That reality is a utility with only 484 customers.

The Middleburg utility costs reflect the combined bills for water and sewer service costs, as that is the norm for town residents. The weighted average costs for customers inside and outside of each town are shown in the following chart. The following charts show these weighted averages for 5,000-gallon water and sewer costs by town, and compare costs from other towns to ours.

As you can see, Middleburg customers do pay more. However, Middleburg customers are clearly not paying two to three times more than other towns pay! That is my opinion – what do you think? I welcome all comments, suggestions and questions!