so - lets see if I got this right:

Garbage is picked up ONCE per week instead of twice; its done by an automated truck (eliminating jobs); there are a BUNCH of stupid rules about what trash can to use, where it must be placed, how the lid must be closed, etc.; we were PROMISED that the changes would SAVE US MONEY; the city somehow decided that yard waste pickup was OPTIONAL is and discontinuing the service; the water that comes out of my faucet ALREADY smells like sewage; the economy is still in the dumps - THEREFORE we must pay an ADDITIONAL $40/year for city utilities...?

City council -- here's your sign.

Yep, I have heard of Victorian inflation. 6.39%. Property taxes up only 2%. Looks like willville leads the nation in utility inflation. Hey, but look at it the mayor's way, it is only "psychological" and it is only 2 percent. Right, Mr. Mayor. We all need to sacrifice for dear old Victoria.

It is Ok to suspect corruption if you are informed about the facts surrounding the accepted bids. Please investigate and let us all hear your findings. As for recessions and depressions, I read that we are close to the end of our economic downturn, at least according to our Federal Reserve members. Lastly, have you ever heard of inflation?

nonya, Brannan has been ruining Victorias streets for decades......I have always wondered why, considering the product they put out (fails after a year or 2 sometimes less)....I always wondered who's getting paid off.

I like the new garbage cans, I don't like the increased costs.

Didn't someone metion something about it being less expensive to use this new system.

This deserves an all caps WTF????

I dislike it totally! The flies are horrible - the trash gets picked up once a week! It's not working at all!!! Get something done about it City of Victoria!

Just a bunch of crooks getting paid off tax dollars.

Brilliant quote, Marvin: "I'll tell you that I, for one, am not too happy with the way things are, but I guess they are the way they are."

This "oh well" attitude sums up the gumption of the average Victorian.

That's it, I'm moving back and taking over.

Look out leeches at the City of Victoria, I've got you in my sights.

(figuratively speaking, of course!)

The city is nothing more than a bunch of stinking liars.they said that automated pick-up would save us money,bulls_it,all they ever want is more money. They should eliminate some of the administrative jobs, we have a city engineer who can't figure the amount needed for right of ways,...we have to hire someone to come in and figure that out for us, fire him we don't need him, then theres Brannan Construction who does some of our streets, who's he in bed with at the city..they do a road and two years later we hire him to do it again cause he didn't do it right the first time....I'm sick and tired of all this corruption in this city, but no one stops to smell the stinkin roses.too busy paying for increases!

This town needs to clean out the people currently working in city government. No, they have their heads where they can't hear about a recession. City council needs an overdue scouring.

tnt, actually 300ppm is pretty high. San Antonio averages 340 according to SARA. Places in the Hill Country are a little higher.

Some of the groundwater planned for the LGWSP is at 600+ parts per million.

And in a couple of places in Bee County it's at 1000! Now you don't want to try and drink that! However, do you think GBRA has told the City of Boerne and the other Hill Country destinations of the quality of water they want to deliver through a 1$ Billion+ pipeline?

Do you reckon GBRA has informed the people up there of the Invista permit to dump 20 tons of polluted process water into the river JUST ABOVE A POINT WHERE THEY'LL PULL WATER OUT FOR THAT PIPELINE?

I looked up some of the names of the members of the Chambers of Commerce in the Hill Country and Boerne and sent them copies of that permit. Wanna know the reaction? They took the names of the members off their websites!

City officials said the increases are necessary to help cover the cost of delivering safe drinking water, for the removal of solid waste and to handle sewage.
Has anyone done an individual test on Victoria municipal water supply? It is suppose to be under 300 ppm. That's parts per million, dissolved solids. If the prices go up, is the quality going down? Do you trust your "drinking water"?

Citizens of the USS City of Victoria:

As the mayor said, "the city is like a big ship, it takes a long time to slow it down." Slow down! Especially when the mayor is feeding more coal to the boilers and the good ship is speeding up. How about this mayoral quote, "it (the property tax rate) is only two percent more."

Mr. Mayor you forgot to tell the citizens besides the two percent property tax increase...there is the 12 percent garbage increase, the 2 percent water fee and the 2 percent sewer fee increase. What ever happened to all those savings which were promised if the city went to once week collection and automating the process? May 2010 is not too far away actually. The sign on the gas station sign looks much better now..."David Hagan for Mayor."

Yet they promised that the consumers would save money with the once a week trash pick up and now they want more money. If we are going to be charged more money take the trash pickup back to the way it was 2x a week without the stinking garbage can

The problem here is that the taxpayer doesn't have anyone to go to for more money except his boss and if the city would open their eyes and perhaps listen to the news there is a recession heading into a depression. Hmmmm! Perhaps they hadn't heard!

What about senior citizens, some of whom already decide every month whether they will eat good or buy their medication! This is the first year since 1982 they will receive no COLA! Just a few buck more per month will hurt these people!

Hmmm! Ya think maybe we could put off things like new parks to avert this increase? Come on, Gabe! Say something!

I understood that the city taking over the waste treatment plant from GBRA was supposed to save some money too.

I would also know why the city has not released the figures for the costs of the unfunded federal mandates that are also driving up costs to the local taxpayer! Like outfall monitoring stations! How much will that cost us?

And didn't EVERYONE on the city council vote to increase EVERY fee the city charges for EVERYTHING last December? Hmmmm! What happened to THAT money?

If you folks think your water bills are high now, wait until GBRA builds the Lower Guadalupe Water Supply Project to feed the development in Boerne and the Hill Country!