Unofficial Independence Newsletter—Vol. 1, Issue 3: 10/13/2026

Howdy, folks. If you want to receive this unofficial newsletter directly, then just e-mail me at Kevin.Haughn@UnofficialIndependence.com. I’d like to know where you live at Independence and your general thoughts about our Special District government and living here. I’m just a neighbor who volunteers in the community. If you have a valid question about things, then maybe I will address it in an upcoming newsletter. If you’re still wasting time on Facebook, then I’m sorry to hear that.

The two things that this letter today will cover are (1) a basic civics course for those who are still unsure of how a governmental body works in the United States of America and (2) a basic math class on your Independence water rates.

In a representative form of government, people volunteer (they are not forced) to serve others and put their name on a ballot. Voters elect the people that best represent them. The elected volunteer goes on to serve a term in this representative government and then decides if he or she wants to do that all over again when the term is up. Sometimes the volunteer is paid for this service and has associated costs covered, but that is usually not the case.

At Independence, we have a Special District setup. Volunteers here make $0. If you want to volunteer as a board member on one of our nine boards (yeah, nine of them), then you just wait until election time, get your name on the ballot for the district of Independence that you live in, and then see how the election goes. If you win, then you get a few years to figure things out. Any experience and knowledge that you bring to the table can be helpful, but bad attitudes, willful ignorance, and toxic politics always make it bad for both you and for others. So, being a mature adult as a volunteer is better for everybody.

Imagine if the U.S. Congress (whose volunteers are paid six-figure incomes, plus benefits) was about to pass a law. How rational would a constituent be if he or she said, “Congress should let everyone in America look this over and see if we want it—they shouldn’t just pass a law without asking each one of us! We need to understand all the details!” Nothing would get done, and things would be super-stupid. The point here is that the elected representatives are the ones who already debated the law, weighed the pros and cons, and comprehended what they are doing. The permission they received for doing this task was granted back when they were elected. That’s how representative government works. If you slept through your social studies class in high school, then hopefully that caught you up a bit. Most of us know this already, of course.

If the person your district elected is not the one you want, then vote for a different candidate next time. If your candidate loses, then don’t become a constant whiner and conspiracy theory analyst. Simply figure out how to work with the candidate and voters who did win and be helpful. Make things less about you and more about other people in your community. Specifically at Independence, make things about our culture and property values. In that way, we can all help each other whether we are sitting on a board of directors or not.

All of that said, there was a meeting yesterday for the Independence Water & Sanitation District. (My previous newsletter gave the dates and times for the upcoming annual meetings of each district in November.) Just like last year, the WS&D board discussed increasing our water rates for both potable (drinkable) and non-potable (irrigation) water. Last year, they talked about a shortfall and raised rates 5%. I think our monthly bills went up $15 or something like that. This year, they raised the rates less but altered the tier structure. And, next year, they will reassess the whole caboodle and probably have to raise rates again. Welcome to the world we live in, where things that you use cost money. If you find yourself on Facebook whining about this, then you are wrong; please stop embarrassing yourself or manipulating others into a hyper-fanatical state.

The previous tier structure was from the founding of the Independence development when nobody lived here (2020). So, now that we are filling up three residential districts (1, 2, and 4) in 2026, the W&SD outside consultant evaluated how residents have been using our water(s), the costs of the system to provide those waters, and other factors like Colorado State politics, drought, and repairing the system as it ages. So, the old tier system was revamped with the idea of enabling us to not only afford our waters system but also to have the money to repair it over the course of ten years (2030) as it gets old and cranky.

Again, this is basic stuff; and if you find yourself decrying some sort of wild conspiracy about a shadow government at Independence, or that every single resident here should first review and comprehend the whole thing before rate changes go into effect, then I ask you get over yourself—right now. But, I also recognize that at least 85% of us don’t need my advice for that, as you already understand that this is how things work in the world. So, that advice is for the 10-15% of my neighbors that can’t seem to (or just don’t want to) grasp why their bills go up every year or why things have to change sometimes—not just for their water bill, but for literally everything else. Thankfully, the vast majority of residents at Independence are the mature adults that we all want to live next-door to. Let’s work together to correct that minority and show them a better culture to feed into at Independence, and let’s shutdown the manipulators.

The W&SD board meeting was held at 11:00 AM yesterday when we were all working for the money that we use to pay for our water bills. Some of us were able to take a break from work, most couldn’t or didn’t. I will only discuss the rate and tier changes that go into effect in January 2027, not the four other things that they talked about in that meeting.

• For potable water (like what you use in your shower, sinks, etc.), the Base Rate will cost you $72.00 for up to the first 1,000 gallons in a month. If you use one (1) gallon of water, then you will pay $72. If you use 1,000 gallons, then you will pay $72. This “base rate” is how we all pay equally into our water system and keep it running and repaired—not just the physical structure but also the people that we pay to do the work. This is how it’s done everywhere, not just at Independence. The W&SD board raised this Base Rate by $0.34 per month, from $71.66, starting in January.

• After that first 1,000 gallons of potable water come the tiers, with the first one being from 1,001 to 1,500 gallons. The charges within those tiers are prorated, but the maximum you will pay if you go through a tier fully would be $73.25 (1,500 gallons), $78.88 (3,000 gallons), $90.88 (4,500 gallons), or $108.88 (6,000 gallons). Those are not additive; they are totals.

• On the non-potable side, the base rate will be $40.00 for 2,500 gallons, raised from $38.59. So, a 3.65% increase that equals $1.41 more a month. After that, the tier maximums will be $43.75 (5,000 gallons), $58.75 (10,000 gallons), $83.75 (15,000 gallons), or $123.75 (20,000 gallons).

• On top of the base rate and tiers, there are static fees for sewer (monthly, raised 3% ($1.98) for 2027) and stormwater (annual, $50) systems charges

Let’s say 2,500 potable and 4,000 non-potable gallons were used in a month:

• 2026 bill
o $71.66 (potable water base rate) + $66.15 (sewer rate) = $137.81
o $38.59 (non-potable base rate)
o Total: $176.40

• 2027 bill
o $72.00 + $1.25 (Tier 1) + $3.13 (Tier 2) + $68.13 + $40.00 = $184.51
o That’s $8.11 more for that month in 2027 than in 2026

I did not sleep in my social studies or math classes, and I think that most of you did not, either. We also matured enough to purchase an expensive house in Independence. So, let’s keep moving in the right direction, and don’t let people try to scare you. When in doubt, challenge what you know or heard. God bless.