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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us September 20, 2005 Tax adds to rising bills I wonder if every person who receives a city of Ashland monthly bill will realize just what the four city council members who approved this have stuck them with: a monthly bill of $7.50 to cover the loss of income from the failing AFN network. Only 3,170 AFN customers use the system. The Tidings states (Sept. 8, “Electric and Cable Rates Will Rise Soon”) that the other 10,000 non-AFN customers will be charged $7.50 per month to offset the losses. We just opened the Avista gas bill for heating and surprise: 18 percent increase effective Oct. 1. Was there ever a public hearing on this? And what can we do to overturn this charge? Edwin W. Clark Ashland City should dispose of AFN It seems very unfair and inequitable that people in Ashland who do not subscribe to AFN have to subsidize the business and its subscribers to the tune of $7.50 per month indefinitely. Adding insult to injury is the fact that this charge begins next month, while any increase to the subscribers does not begin until next year. It must be obvious to the committee studying this issue that AFN will never be in a position to compete with Charter or other corporate providers. The city should bite the bullet and get out of the business of providing cable television and Internet services. It is highly questionable whether the city of Ashland should have entered this business in the first place when it knew it would be competing with private industry. Private business has a much greater incentive to operate efficiently, i.e., you either make a profit or you are out of business either by merger with, or sale to, another company. In this case, the sale of AFN would appear to be the only option. Even though this would leave the city with at least a portion of the $15 million debt, it would mean there was light at the end of the tunnel. If the city continues with AFN, which, it seems obvious, will never pay for itself, there will be a continuing deficit. This means that Ashlanders who do not subscribe to AFN will be paying for an unwanted service for years to come with no end in sight. Disposing of AFN would also mean that the city finance director, city attorney and city administrator would have more time to devote to more typical city administration activities. Bob Horton Ashland Letters to the Editor and Guest Forums should be e-mailed in text-only format to [email protected]. Please include your address and a daytime phone number where you can be reached for confirmation. Submissions cannot have run in any other publication. Letters are limited to 250 words, Guest Forums are limited to 600 words, and may be edited for length, content and clarity. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Deep Muscle Stimulator Ceramic Piggy Banks FREE Entertainment Guide Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Backpacks Online Pharmacy Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations Hammocks Water Filter Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams