1973-04-16 Regular Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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• • • • Honorable Mayor and City Councilmen This is to request your approval v:: ~ :i~~u sc:~.edule of rates ;'or tc i _.. °:~, .e se.•vice within the City of LaPorte as outl_:_ ::.•~ ...~:~ the ..'c' _..:ed :.~••;'inance . T_~, is same schedule of rates was ..ipproved .,r ~~..ird and f"~:a:~ s•.:~Ld.ir:~ •ny thy: City of Houston on April 11, :973, with t::e ra~~e~ bea.::,; effective Aprii 12. I want to review briefly the factors which caused us to request an ir-:crease in telephone rates on May 17 of last year when wP •°iled our ;~c•~1uest with the City of Houston, and, as you remember, vi site;:. with the ~ayor .•.::d ConLmissioner Sampson. Frankly, our obligation tc our •c:ustomers •~.~ .~~rovide a :•~igh quality telephone service is becoming increasi:~:gly .~•ifficult to meet in light of today's economic conditions. Inflation, higher costs o` cw_,_tal, and an ever increasing demand for more and better service are ::easing severe difficulty, Inflation has a disturbing impact on the costs of providing communications service, with the Consumer Price Index increasing from 104.E in 1968 to 123.1 for 1971. Increased wage costs are another cxar.:;o__:: c.:~' tree effect cf irfation on our business. In July, 1971, we negotiated a contract with the Commu:~:._~._ions '•rJOrk°rs of America, which in wages and benefits increased our payroii by $~ • mil.:.ion in tree first year of the contract, an additional $2.3 million in tr.~ :second year, and a further i:ZCrease of $2.4 miii.ion in the third year. The c:.+m~!ative effect will be that, by 1973, wage and related costs in the Houston Metrorolitan Exchange will have increased about $10 million per yehr; :~ssumir.~; no changes in number of employees. • Paralleling these inflationary costs has been -,..:: aiUr:e ~• .:osts o capital our Company has beer: required to pay, with our lass long tern debt issu< --;:.stin,:r 7.1F5 per cent . Despite this increasingly hip-; : cost o.. , .:~ney,