CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – Something amazing happens when you offer something for ‘free’ – suddenly everyone wants it. Look what happened in Wausau last month. The city offered ‘free’ bottled water… just come and pick it up… because people are in an irrational frenzy over forever chemicals, PFAS, in the water.
The free water lasted just a few hours… the city was out that afternoon.
The following week the city began offering filters and new water pitchers with a filter. The city couldn’t get enough of those for everyone who pre-ordered one. Pro-tip: the filters in those pitchers need to be replaced. Stand by if Wausau will offer replacement filters for free too. Bet they will.
When something is ‘free’, people’s hands immediately go out. After all… it’s free!
Only it isn’t. Wausau spent $150,000 on “free” PFAS mitigation. And when the city needed to order even more water pitchers, the City Council approved another $80,000. Who pays for that? Well, it may come out of Biden Bucks intended for COVID, even though forever chemicals and COVID have nothing to do with each other. That money was supposed to pay for lead pipe mitigation. When the money runs out, homeowners, who were expecting “free” help to update the plumbing in older homes will find that they will pay more for it. And when the money runs out… PFAS costs will fall to water rate-payers.
The lesson here is that free stuff is a double-whammy. First, it’s human nature to want free stuff. And second, it’s never free. Someone is paying… Who? The taxpayers. You and me.
-Chris Conley
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