The feckless five, Delgado, Pfeffer, Wurzburger, Oritz and Lopez , are backing a proposal that would allow developers and builders to continue construction unabated even though there is insufficient water for current residents and businesses in Santa Fe.

By simply paying a nominal “toilet tax”, that would be passed on to their customers, builders would continue to be exempt from water saving restrictions that are imposed on other Santa Feans.

How is the payment of this “exemption fee” supposed to save water now and in the future? Supposedly the City would use the fees to retrofit existing structures to offset water use by new construction. This assumes that regardless of the extent of new construction there would always be sufficient retrofits to offset the increased water use of development.

This also assumes that Santa Fe City government is capable of managing an effective retrofit program.

This is same City government that has precipitated and exacerbated the present water crisis by a lack of planning, gross mismanagement of water delivery and billing, and allowing the water system to fall into general disrepair.

The payment of an exemption fee would in no way curtail the demand for and issuance of building permits. It is akin to paying someone to take one’s place in a military draft. It allows one to avoid doing their duty.

However if it makes sense to the City Council to allow builders to outstrip the water supply then why not allow home owners, who are currently bearing the brunt of the water restrictions, to pay a nominal fee also to be exempt from the City’s water restrictions?

What would save water is a realistic budget that would allocate reliable water supplies to present and future needs. This is a difficult but essential task that the majority of the City Council refuses to undertake.

William J. Salman