PrepTest 148, Section 1, Question 4
Columnist: A government-owned water utility has received approval(46 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(16 more words not shown)
- ACustomers of a(17 more words not shown)
- BMoney designated for(20 more words not shown)
- CAn additional charge(19 more words not shown)
- DAn additional charge(14 more words not shown)
- EA water utility(15 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
A water-bill surcharge to pay for a dam has an understandable connection. Imagine an extra ten dollars a month going toward a needed dam. Whether that is a good idea depends on the project, but at least we know what the charge was approved to fund.
What we’re looking for
Now the legislator wants to spend that money on roads instead. Maybe the roads are useful too, but that wasn't the approved purpose. My first objection is that you shouldn't get permission to collect money for one project and then redirect it to another. We're asked for a principle supporting the columnist's rejection of that switch. I'd look for a rule limiting what this extra revenue can be used for.
Working the answers
- A
Letting customers know about the change doesn't establish that the change is acceptable. The legislator could announce the road plan openly and still face the columnist's objection. A requires disclosure, but we need a rule that rules out this use of the money even when everyone knows about it.
- B
We don't know that the dam benefits everyone while the roads benefit only some people. Both could provide widespread benefits. Without the whole-community versus limited-group contrast, we can't apply this principle to show that the road proposal is unacceptable.
- C
We aren't told that most customers oppose the roads. They might welcome them. The columnist's judgment rests on the proposed change in use of the revenue, not on stated customer disapproval. This rule needs a fact about public opinion that we haven't been given.
- D
Approval has been obtained, but the passage doesn't identify who gave it. We can't assume legislative approval is missing just because it isn't specified. In any event, the objection concerns redirecting the revenue after the charge was approved. D doesn't establish that collecting the charge violates its approval requirement.
- ECorrect
This supplies a specific limit on the use of water-bill surcharges: the money must go toward water-related expenditures. A dam fits that purpose; the proposed new roads do not. So continuing to collect the extra water charge while directing the money to roads would violate the principle. This is narrower than a general rule against changing an approved purpose, but it supports the rejection of this particular switch.
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