And this, Gentle Readers, is why so many area repeaters went un-funded and were shut down. Those of us who were tired of...shenanigans...and just wanted to talk to our buddies on VHF and UHF poured a pretty decent amount of coin into our simplex setups, away from that bullspit.
Several repeaters around here are independently owned and open to everyone. We support them - either with parts, funds or assistance doing equipment and tower work.