dummy, I was ignorant of any potential tax liabilties, I'll check into our situation. The cost of getting a meter set to enable you to get rural water kept going up the longer you delayed in "paying up" this was to encourage more participation/more cash to help get system installed. If you opt for disconection, it is easy to get reconnected again **** the meter box is there ready to acccept a meter again B U T there is the matter of the current meter setting fee which is about $1000 now. It was a few hundred dollars about three years before the water was actually available when I joined the rural water assoc for my first meter. I paid nearly $900 for my second (a bit of a misunderstanding so I loose). I intend to try to always use my minimum/baseline quota and avoid escolating costs for any large overages by well water usage. I have an hour meter on my well to measure total run times. That and the average amp draw to power the well tells me about what it costs to pump my own water.

If the economics were different here I might opt for just having the rural water on "standby" too but I think their strategy was to try to "force" greater participation. The current cost of having a meter set again is more than the current cost of 33 years of baseline usage. Cheaper to just use the baseline. Over itme the meter set cost can continue to spiral up. The meter set cost to which I refer is just putting a meter in the meter box. If you don't have a meter box, a totally new installation, then it is more. Believe me, the best deal is to have joined early and to stay within the baseline. Next best is to have a good well to supplement the baseline.

Pat