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Bill to add fluoride to water comes at hefty taxpayer price tag
A bill under consideration in the Legislature to mandate the addition of fluoride to the public water supply would cost taxpayers billions, according to one opponent, but a major service provider said it’s not taking a position on the issue.
“Not only does this unfunded mandate completely strip away all local control of fluoridation, but requires local taxpayers to fund the estimated $5 billion startup cost and the annual $1 billion cost to maintain the practice,” said Paul Connett, executive director of the nonprofit Fluoride Action Network, of New York, in a press release.
A New Jersey American Water spokesman said the company, which provides water to roughly one-third of the state’s residential population through seven treatment plants and 170 public well stations, is neutral on the issue, though implementing the proposed legislation will cost more than $75 million, or a 5 percent increase in the residential water rate. (Eder, NJBIZ)