Who the hell am I paying and for what?!?!

[jonnyGURU]

If you didn't know, we're having a drought here in Florida.

Also, if you didn't know, I just bought a house and it's the first house I've ever bought.

I got a bill from the county with my meter reading on it. In it is a note that tells me to water on on Mondays, or I will get slapped with a fine.

I got a bill from the city with my meter reading on it. In it is a note that tells me to water on Tuesdays, or I will get slapped with a fine.

Whafu?!?!?

Well, I can't be paying them BOTH for water. I know I'm paying ONE of them for garbage.... so I decide to call.

It turns out that I'm paying the city for water and the county for sewer and they BOTH read the meter to figure out how much I pay. Because I get my water from the city, I have to water on Tuesdays. Because I get my sewage service from the county, I pay them for sewage but they also sent me the warning about watering on Monday because some of the people in the neighborhood get their water from the county.

Arrrrgh! My head is spinning.

How are you supposed to know this stuff ahead of time?

 

[Aceman]

Wait until you see the breakdown of where your property taxes actually go to! You're problem is clearer than what I had in Pennsylvania. There, I paid the township, the county, the city, and a burrough(sp?) for similar utilities and taxes.

 

[wyvrn]

<< &quot;Really?&quot; Time to throw her under the bus. &quot;Well, you have multiple PCI slots with multiple PCI controllers. Some PCI slots are on the same PCI controller as other PCI slots and some PCI slots are on different PCI controllers altogether. Some PCI controllers control some PCI devices that are on the board and they are treated as PCI devices the same way as the PCI slots as well as the ISA slots being controlled by PCI controllers thanks to the PCI bridge. Now the problem can rise from two cards creating a conflict that prevents the cards from working because they are in two different slots that are on the same PCI controller or one card is conflicting with a device that is on board that is on a similar PCI controller or both cards conflicting with two or more PCI devices controlled by the PCI controllers. Of course we are talking a hardware conflict and not a resource conflict because if we were only talking about a resource conflict then Windows would see the devices and you would have a situation that is easier to manage.&quot;

There was a long pause.... and then she says, &quot;Oh... OK. Thanks.&quot;

I hope she got all that.
>>



I just read your website jonnyGURU.

Now back to the story.

 

[rlism]

I don't pay PG&amp;E for my electricity, only gas. PG&amp;E, Pacific Gas and ELECTRICITY.

I pay the city for electricity, water, sewer, solar?, refuse/garbage, and miscellaneous. MISCELLANEOUS is close to 1/4th of my bill.

I have to pay flood insurance on my house. I live in Silicon Valley, I do not live near a river, and the northern California area barely hovers above 'official' drought conditions.

I get, on avg, 1 credit card offer, 1 telemarketer, and a slew of junkmail regarding refinancing, or home improvement, everyday.

The joys of owning a house. =)

 

[ArkAoss]

good gosh, my head's spinning too.. Just don't water the lawn at all... grow pachysandra thru the whole stinkin thing, that stuff is hardy.

 

[GrInNer]

.

 

[kranky]

LOL! When we bought our house, a few weeks later a bill shows up from a place called Chambers Development for $28.00. I have no idea who the heck Chambers Development is or why they would send me a bill, so I call.

&quot;Hello, I received a bill from you, but I don't believe I've done any business with your company.&quot;
&quot;<chuckle> That's the bill for your trash pickup.&quot;
<I remember paying the borough for trash pickup where we used to live, so...>
&quot;Well, the bill doesn't say anything about trash, all it says is First Quarter Billing.&quot;
&quot;Well, everyone knows we pick up the trash.&quot;
&quot;OK, thanks.&quot;

I call the township to double-check, and indeed we owe them $28 per quarter for trash pickup. But just like you, Jonny, I wondered how the heck you're supposed to know!

 

[SoyBoy004]

bills bills bills.

yeah what is that &quot;Visa&quot; bill that i get every month, man what a nuisance.

 

[gittyup]

My sprinkler system is set to use reclaimed water. Not sure I have to adhere to the same watering restictions...

 

[perry]

I have to pay my apartment complex a flat rate of $30/month for water. No matter how much I use, no matter If my roommates and I are gone for 2 weeks of the month. And they started it in the middle of our lease last year. Pissed me off, but what can I do. There's some little cryptic line in the lease that says they can add on fees like that.

 

[Soybomb]

LOl I've been trying to get utilities turned on in my apt, I also will get a seperate water and sewer bill. I can't wait until the sewer bill shows higher than my water bill I also like that I need to pay $100 deposit for water and sewer...isn't that a bit much...anyway......I feel your pain man.

 

[perry]

Another thing about the flat rate. We have water rationing in Atlanta, so I can't even use the water that I get to pay for every month to wash my car. Well, I can do it on the 5th Wednesday of every month between 2:34am and 4:14am. That really gets to me.

Even if I do conserve water, I still get to pay for it. I don't take 30 minute showers, I turn off the water when I brush my teeth, I run the dishwasher on full loads only, etc. And I still pay the same amount as the goof offs around the corner that don't do all of those things. I think I'm on a rampage this afternoon.

 

[Jal]

LOL the joys of home ownership.. You just learn, and then you conform

I laugh at my water bill (Every 3 months)

Water used $5 (not bad for 3 months huh)

Delivery of water, sewage and delivery of sewage from the house ($60)

Total bill $65

WTF lol

 

[jonnyGURU]

gittyup: Recalimed water can water as frequently as they like. The city (or is it the county???) only wants a sign on the lawn saying &quot;watered with reclaimed water&quot;.



Anyone know where I can get one of these signs?

 

[satori]

rlism: I think we have to pay for flood insurance here in the _ bay area because the existing drainage system sucks big time. Remember when El Nina hit about 2 years back? A bunch of houses in the Palo Alto, Menlo Park or Atherton area were flooded out. One of my roommates got off the freeway and almost got stuck on the offramp, because there was a foot or two of standing water on it. We spent an hour trying to get his dome-light to turn off, because the water had messed up some of the circuitry.

 

[Hamburgerpimp]

jonnyGURU,

There's probably some people on a Public Utilities Message Board posting messages about you!!

 

[Mday]

jonnyGURU, you have to water between 11:59 PM on Monday night to 12:01 AM on Tuesday morning ;-)

OR GET SLAPPED WITH A FINE.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Well... I'll have you know that I pay yet another party for Electric and to date I still have no idea who gets paid for taking my garbage.


Hopefully they wont find out. :Q