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The reason why the prices are high? This is how I think it started:
Erev Yom Tov people rightly pay for 3 days so it costs more. Now, people are groomed to the idea of paying more Erev Yom Tov. So when it comes to Erev Yom Kippur, even though it’s paying for only one day, the Mikvahs can get away with charging the “Erev Yom Tov price” because people will not protest. Is that fair?? For sure NOT! The consumer is only receiving something the Mikvah will otherwise charge less. The fact is that in Israel they don’t charge more on Erev Yom Kippur because there the “Erev Yom Tov” price does not exist – this supports my logic and I wish someone on this forum would agree….Meno, threads virtually always go off on tangents not directly related to the OP.
A mikve is a community resource that must be paid for but the public. Those who attend infrequently pay a higher price to cover more of the fixed costs than those attending daily who pay less as they cover more of the fixed costs over the year.
Several answers to this question, and they appeared in earlier comment – I am not being mechadesh anything.
1. Ask anyone who built a mikva in their shul. The expenses for construction are not simple, nor are the details that relate to the halachic requirements. Until the actual construction gets done, there have already been numerous consultations. That is a capital expense. In reality, anyone who attempts to build a mikva is most likely to be doing so on a donation – hefty one. Yes, there are cost overruns, too.
2. The maintenance expenses of a mikva are huge, often a bigger undertaking than the original investment in construction. Water, boiler, showers, soap, towels, basic housekeeping and maintenance for the operation, all cost. These expenses must be borne by the users. Most mikvaos that are used daily have “chodesh gelt”, where there is a flat fee paid monthly. This cuts down on the cost for the user, and helps the mikva only towards breaking even for their expenses. Having the money up front is useful, as this would in any other business.
3. There is a perspective change needed here. Instead of seeing the prices rise with Erev Shabbos, Erev Yom Tov, and Erev Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, look at the rest of the year as discounted.“He’s asking you to assume the original construction was already paid for, which means the morgage is paid for.”
Since we are making assumptions. Lets assume everyone is a multimillionaire and a $150 mikva wouldn’t faze anyone and $15 fee is a bargain.
What would be the purpose of that?
Keeping a mikvah clean, pristine and sparkling is essential to assuring that those who might not feel the obligation to toivel keep coming back, especially the less frum who take personal hygiene and cleanliness very seriously and would be turned off by anything less than 100 percent clean and well-maintained. The latter takes NIS/$$ which they don’t print in the back of the mikvah.
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