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50 purchase on the other systems. Plat-rate charges on the other systems In reference to do­mestic service (see following tabulation) indicate that while all such charges appear low, yet Las Vegas charges, both actual and proposed, are not unfavorable. I m Monthly Flat Rate Charge Bakersfield $2.76 Barstow 2.60 Hanford 3.09 Visalia 2.35 Reno 2.75 Las Vegas - present rate 2.00 proposed rate 2.70 1/ For 5-room house with toilet and bath. Average Dollar Billing and Purchasing Value of Dollar Chart A (page l l 'a ) shows r a t h e r c le a r ly : 1. That the average dollar revenue received per customer has remained practically constant during the past ten years; the year­ly average during this period has been $27.04 compared with $26.22 received in 1949 and $26.51 (not shown on chart) estimated for 1950 at present rates. 2. That the purchasing value of the dollar (commodity prices-U. S. Department of Labor Indexes) has declined very materially in comparison with the year 1940 and on that comparison the 1949 Index Is but 0.53 and the 1950 index 0.54. Thus a dollar in 1950 will only purchase 54$ of what it did in 1940, or it takes about $1.85 today to buy what a dollar did In 1940. 3. That the customer income has generally risen approxi­mately 70$ since 1940, with, of course, natural variations between different classes of wage earners and between individuals. Such in­crease in dollar income has to a considerable degree offset the decline in the purchasing power of the dollar. An increase in water rates would, therefore, be doing for the Water Utility what wage and