To the Editor,
At a recent meeting WG&E leadership waffled on providing any financial relief to the city citing responsibilities to “ratepayers”. The sheer audacity of these statements show how out of touch WG&E is with the plight of citizens in Westfield. WG&E “rate payers” ARE individual and business “tax payers” in the city! The notion they are different is just false and insulting.
The city began the budget process over $8 million in the hole and had few revenue resources to draw on to close the gap. Meanwhile, WG&E is municipally owned and enjoys all the benefits of non-profit status–topping the list of those benefits is tax exempt status. WG&E PAYS NO PROPERTY OR COMMERCIAL TAXES to the city.
More astonishing is WG&E makes no regular payments “in lieu of taxes” to help the city balance the budget from year to year. Even more egregious is WG&E is sitting on $33 million in cash (with plans to top $48 million) citing the need of an exorbitant rate stabilization fund. Our rates aren’t that much cheaper than surrounding towns to justify this balance to mitigate rate risk. There are more economical ways to manage risk than a stockpile of cash, like hedging using open market mechanisms. The $33 million (soon to be $48 million) is excess money that has been extracted from taxpayers and businesses in town by a municipal entity supposedly designed to benefit Westfield citizens. In effect, this is money that businesses and individuals overpaid for utility services. In reality, reasonable residents accept the need for some surplus reserves to mitigate risk but a rapidly growing cash fund isn’t the answer. Therefore, it is not an outrageous expectation that they help the city bridge the budget gap using ample surplus funds.
It should also be noted WG&E has a new revenue stream extracting money from Westfield residents– fiber optic internet– further bolstering their financial coffers. For all intents and purposes, WG&E is operating as a for-profit corporation while enjoying the tax exempt status of a non-profit which works counter to Westfield citizens interests.
If WG&E leadership can’t justify financial relief to the very citizens it serves, might I suggest a solution to the city’s budget and pension problems? Maybe the city should consider selling WG&E as a private utility on the open market. It could garner in excess of $100 million and shore up Westfield financial issues for years to come. Otherwise, WG&E should step up and participate in helping their customers –Westfield residents.
I’m encouraged city leadership is reaching out to WG&E in these trying times, but the need to evaluate other large city non-profits like WSU and Baystate Noble should be done also. They should not be exempt from helping the community they reside in as their “customers” are residents of the community.
Sincerely,
Steve Warsaw
