La Villa ISD refuses to pay $50K water bill, city cuts off service. Will school open on Monday?

[TexasTowelie]

More than 600 children in a South Texas border town may be prevented from returning to school on Monday because of a long-standing dispute over water rates, which have skyrocketed in recent years amid attempts to make badly needed upgrades to the town’s water infrastructure.

Several attempts at negotiation between the city of La Villa and the La Villa Independent School District have failed, after the district refused to pay more than $50,000 in overdue water bills and the city cut off its water service. School officials say they are being charged too much for water from a mismanaged utility, while the city contends that it needs money to cover millions of dollars in needed repairs to water and sewer treatment systems.

Beyond the political and financial tussle, the situation illustrates the struggles facing the small Texas border towns that operate the treatment plants that supply drinking water and clean up wastewater.

“Basically, it’s planning and lack of money, and lack of management,” said Carlos Acevedo, a senior project manager for the Border Environment Cooperation Commission, a binational agency charged with improving environmental conditions along the U.S.-Mexico border.

More at http://www.texastribune.org/2014/01/10/border-towns-struggle-protect-water-infrastructure/ .

[shenmue]

1. This is sad

What a mess.