Emotions ran high Monday night as Fruitland Park commissioners held a workshop to talk about proposed water rates for its residents.
The workshop was held to discuss possible increases to cover the portion of the costs of water and wastewater services the city has been subsidizing for years through the general fund. With that knowledge in hand, the city approved a utility rate study that was presented at the June 13 commission meeting.
That study, completed by GovRates Inc., suggested the city could raise water and wastewater rates by 71.5 percent to meet the minimum debt coverage service requirement, or 94 percent to meet revenue requirements.
The debt coverage service requirement is associated with State Revolving Fund loans that were secured to finance Fruitland Park’s wastewater utility system and if that isn’t met, the city could go into technical default and have issues getting future loans, the study says.
Mayor Chris Cheshire made it clear early on Monday night that he wasn’t in favor of raising rates all at once by either one of those rates. He called that idea “ridiculous” and said he believes the problem could solve itself in the next few years.
“If we have to raise sewer rates and water rates, we want to raise them as little as possible to make everything balance,” Cheshire said. “I still believe in the next two to three years, growth is going to work this problem out. We’re going to have enough people hook up to sewer that this is no longer a problem.”
The Commission then debated the rate issue for quite some time. Commissioner Patrick DeGrave, who lives in the Village of Pine Ridge, said it’s crucial that the city raise rates by 71.5 percent – though not all at once – so it could stop funding the majority of costs from the general fund. Commissioner John Mobilian, who lives in the Village of Pine Hills, agreed, adding that he doesn’t want to see the roughly $884,000 – money that eventually has to be paid back – from the general fund continue to increase.
At one point, two Fruitland Park residents in the audience who had been talking somewhat loudly among themselves stormed out – one of them crumpling a water bottle – when Cheshire explained that Monday’s meeting was a workshop where no decisions would be made and no public comments would be taken.
“They’re having a workshop but they don’t have any input from the community,” said resident Jeff Bryan, who returned a short time later and complained about the city commissioning the utility study. “I don’t understand that.”
Commissioners eventually unofficially decided to implement a 25 percent annual increase in the rates over the next three years, with the caveat that they’ll take a hard look at the situation each year to see if growth and other factors have eliminated the need for the hike. And they agreed that the same rate of increase would be passed along to Central Sumter Utility Company, which purchases water Fruitland Park for 82 cents per 1,000 gallons and in turn provides it to The Villages portion of the city at a much higher rate.
Commissioners also agreed to continue using a portion of the general fund to pay for the wastewater service, which would help it meet the debt coverage service requirement and hopefully eliminate the technical default issue from taking place.
The GovRates Inc. study showed that 75 percent of utility customers have water-nly service provided by the city. It said the average resident in that scenario uses $6,000 gallons a month and suggested that rates should go from $20.49 to $35.10 – an increase of $14.61.
The study also pointed out that 25 percent of the city’s residents are water/wastewater customers who use an average of about 4,000 gallons a month. It suggested their rates should go from $41.13 to $74.82 – an increase of $33.69.
Under the ordinance commissioners are expected to introduce for a first reading at their July 11 meeting, those wastewater/water customers would see their bill increase about $5 per month, while water-only customers would see increases of about $10 monthly.
Residents who want to speak on the issue will have their chance during the July 11 meeting and again on July 25 when the second and final reading will take place. If adopted, the new rates are expected to take effect Aug. 1.
