Residents, legislators, and water conservation groups rallied outside the Metropolitan District Commission meeting ahead of the hotly debated water supply ordinance proposal vote.
"The numbers don’t add up," said Senator Derek Slap (D).
For weeks residents have been debating with the MDC over a proposed water supply ordinance that could give a big discount to Niagara Bottling in Bloomfield. The MDC has tried to push similar ordinances in the past but were unsuccessful. Residents say this time the MDC was determined to move forward amidst pushback from the public.
"You need to make it clear that we are being heard," said a concerned resident.
Inside residents again spoke to the board to bring up issues of affordability, corporate giveaways, and water conservation.
The MDC voted to approve an ordinance that includes a 20% discount to Niagara Bottling if they use on average over 600,000 gallons of water a day.
This comes after users saw a 13.5% increase in their rates in December.
"Large corporate discounts for one user that no one benefits from is just completely unfair and unreasonable kind of thing," said Paula Jones.
The MDC says that’s not true. The discount could bring millions of dollars in additional revenue if Niagara uses its facility to its capacity.
"It is used to reduce the overall budget of the MDC which in turn reduces the water rate for everyone," said MDC CEO Scott Jellison.
The MDC says that the increase could reduce the rate for individuals by $0.11 a month. Concerned residence says that’s a failed example of trickledown economics and corporations should pay their share.
"Economically struggling households need discounts, not corporations," said Valerie Rosette.
Commissioners say they had to do something to combat rising operation costs and a steady decline in usage.
"We are just trying to create tools within our toolbox so that we can be competitive with our counterparts across the state and across the country," said Jellison.
The MDC says that Niagara Bottling currently using less than 600,000 gallons a day meaning they pay the same price as anyone else. They hope this plan incentives them to use more in order to help lower the bills for MDC users.