I recently noticed an 18 percent hike in my Waste Management bill. Wow. That’s a lot. I called Waste Management, and they told me I needed to talk to the city, as they were the key to this contract. Okay. I asked the one Federal Way City Council member I trust to look into this, and he did. But what I heard left me with as many questions as answers. I was told that the city manager said Federal Way had made a “killer deal.” Hmmm. But my rate went up 18 percent. Does this mean that I had been underpaying? Me thinks not.

Today, I received my water bill from Tacoma. (I’m in Twin Lakes, and get my water from Tacoma…I have no idea why.) The bill includes a “Resource Use” chart. And on it I see that my June consumption was a fraction of what it was last June. Yay! So, should I be happy? No! My bill is more than last year! I look at another page of my bill and I see that my water consumption charge is negligible — compared to the monthly “Customer Charge.” Indeed, that Customer Charge is twice the charge for the consumption of the water. What am I paying for?

Okay, I admit that I am a latecomer on this stuff, and there have probably been public meetings dealing with these issues. Or not? All I know now is that something doesn’t add up. If anyone else is angered by these issues, please let me know where I can add my name to those who want more information. At this time, the information I have been given is unacceptable.

I haven’t yet looked at my Puget Sound Energy bills closely. Bet I find some gripes there too…

Dave McKenzie, Federal Way