Water

Just paid my water bill. $400. Thought that was bit steep. Could it be that the leak I had last January (er, previous January) boosted my sewer rates, and that combined with the hot weather and the automatic sprinklers boosted the rate to the stratosphere? Well, I checked, and no, that's not it. So why is it so high?
    I look at last winter's bill and it looks like the rate for water was about $1.50 per unit, a unit being 100 cubic feet, which is roughly 800 gallons. The last two months I used 96 units. At $1.50 a unit that would amount to $150, so why is the charge $300? Call the water department and get treated to a recorded spiel about everything I don't want to know about paying my bill and the machinations of government organizations, but nothing about rates. For that I have to wait for someone to actually answer the phone and from her I find out that Hillsboro has a tiered rate system:

• First 16 units are $1.58 each.
• next 20 units are $2.46 each, and the
• next 60 units are $3.33 each.

Note that those only add up to 96, which is the number on my bill. What comes after that? Maybe I don't want to know. Maybe I shouldn't ask. Maybe they've never had anyone use that much water before. In any case that explains why the bill was so high. I wonder if there is some kind of tax deduction I can take to compensate for having to comply with the onerous Home Owners Association rules about keeping your grass green. Most lawns outside of this enclave have let their lawns go brown.