In comparing the equal amounts paid by homeowners and malls or big-box stores, to justify raising street-light fees for businesses, why hasn't anyone pointed out that the malls and big-box stores already pay as much as
100 times what homeowners pay for area lighting? It's called parking lot lighting, and it's already on the stores' electrical meters ("Duluth Chamber balks at city's proposal to increase lighting fees for businesses," Nov. 23).
In reality, the closest city-
provided street light to a mall or big-box store may be blocks away. Basing a street-lighting fee on impervious surface rather than on city-provided lumens makes as much sense as basing it on the nationality of the businesses' parking lot attendant. This is really a tax and not a service fee. It's just a clever way of getting more money for the city without directly attacking homeowners' pocketbooks.
Rick Luck
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Superior
