Saturday, February 17, 2007
Arsenic Removal??
Adding to my erlier comments about taxes and fees for telephone service and utilities, now my water bill contains $9.21 for arsenic removal and 7 cents for "ACC Resid Reg Assmnet Fee". What will they think of next? Wonder how the arsenic got into the water?
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Utilities Costs Burdened by Taxes and Fees
Has anyone noticed the outrageous taxes and fees that have been added to telephone bills, utilities bills, cellphone bills, etc? My recent Qwest telephone bill consists of $9.91 in taxes and fees. These taxes and fees consist of: Federal Excise at 3%, State Sales Tax, Regulatory Surcharge, County Sales Tax, State 911 at $.28, Federal Universal Service Charge at 9.7%, Arizona Universal Service Fund at $.01 per line (Give it time, this will increase.), Telecommunications Relay Service Fund at 1.1%, and Federal Access Chaarge of $6.31. These taxes and fees make up 22% of my telephone bill.
The taxes and fees on my Electric Bill include: Basic Service Charge, Delivery Service Charge, Environmental benefits surcharge, Competition rules compliance charge, System benefits charge, Power Supply Adjustment, Metering, Meter Reading, Generation of Electricity, Transmission and ancillary services. Taxes and Fees include: Regulatory assessment, State sales tax, County sales tax, City Sales tax, Franchise Fee. The odd and extraneous taxes and fees make add up to $30.30, or 19% of my electric bill. Wouldn't you think that metering, billing, meter reading, Basic service charge ($1.74), and Transmission and ancillary services would be simply a part of the overall cost of doing business? The problem is that our governments at all levels and our Utilities Commissioners, as well as our telephone and electric providers have come up with numerous ways to charge we citizens to hide what they're up to ; and by doing this, they can add on charges adinfinitum. It's similar to hospitals that charge for every little thing they do or item they provide -- down to the last band aid or aspirin. But that's another story.
The taxes are the work of our elected officials, who have forgotten that they were once one of us and sooner or later will again be one of us average citizens. And these taxes may be unconstitutional because only the Congress is authorized to levy taxes -- not the FCC.
It is unconscionable that such taxes and fees are levied on telephone and electric bills. A strong case can be made that both are necessities of life and should not be taxed at all. That this is true for electricity is obvious; but also consider the importance of basic telephone service to the elderly, the disabled, for emergencies, etc. Cell phones, unless they are the only telephone service are another matter. Over the past ten years, as I have seen these taxes and fees be added and increased, I have written my Senators, Congressmen, and Utilities Commissioners in Colorado and Arizona, but they seem to be too busy worrying about other things than stopping these obscene charges on our telephones and utilities. (Probably, these taxes and fees are also applicable to natural gas users and other utilities, etc., but I don't have those in my house.)
The taxes and fees on my Electric Bill include: Basic Service Charge, Delivery Service Charge, Environmental benefits surcharge, Competition rules compliance charge, System benefits charge, Power Supply Adjustment, Metering, Meter Reading, Generation of Electricity, Transmission and ancillary services. Taxes and Fees include: Regulatory assessment, State sales tax, County sales tax, City Sales tax, Franchise Fee. The odd and extraneous taxes and fees make add up to $30.30, or 19% of my electric bill. Wouldn't you think that metering, billing, meter reading, Basic service charge ($1.74), and Transmission and ancillary services would be simply a part of the overall cost of doing business? The problem is that our governments at all levels and our Utilities Commissioners, as well as our telephone and electric providers have come up with numerous ways to charge we citizens to hide what they're up to ; and by doing this, they can add on charges adinfinitum. It's similar to hospitals that charge for every little thing they do or item they provide -- down to the last band aid or aspirin. But that's another story.
The taxes are the work of our elected officials, who have forgotten that they were once one of us and sooner or later will again be one of us average citizens. And these taxes may be unconstitutional because only the Congress is authorized to levy taxes -- not the FCC.
It is unconscionable that such taxes and fees are levied on telephone and electric bills. A strong case can be made that both are necessities of life and should not be taxed at all. That this is true for electricity is obvious; but also consider the importance of basic telephone service to the elderly, the disabled, for emergencies, etc. Cell phones, unless they are the only telephone service are another matter. Over the past ten years, as I have seen these taxes and fees be added and increased, I have written my Senators, Congressmen, and Utilities Commissioners in Colorado and Arizona, but they seem to be too busy worrying about other things than stopping these obscene charges on our telephones and utilities. (Probably, these taxes and fees are also applicable to natural gas users and other utilities, etc., but I don't have those in my house.)
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