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County commission OKs higher water rates for 2008
By SUZETTE PORTER
Article published on Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2008 |
PINELLAS COUNTY – Water bills for customers of Pinellas County Utilities will be 3 percent higher in 2008.
The Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved a rate hike for retail and wholesale water customers on Dec. 18. The approval included rate hikes of 3 percent for fiscal year 2007-08 and 2008-09.
Pick Talley, director of Utilities, said the average bill for a single family using 6,000 gallons of water would go up about 72 cents, from $27.24 to $27.96. The rate increases will show up on the first bills after February.
Talley told commissioners that the rate increases were necessary for several reasons, including being able to secure an $80 million bond to pay for a new water blending plant.
“With a 3 percent increase, we can assure the lenders that we can fulfill our debt service obligations,” he said.
The second reason for the rate increase involves looking toward the future and ensuring the county has the ability to pay for the water system after the rate stabilization fund runs dry in about 2010.
Currently, Utilities does not receive enough revenue to pay for its expenses, which primarily is the cost of buying water from Tampa Bay Water. The difference is made up from a reserve fund of money received when the county sold some of its assets to Tampa Bay Water back in the late 1990s.
The rate stabilization fund started with $230 million in 2000 and now has only about $60 million remaining, Talley said.
“At some point in the future, probably around 2010 reserves are going to go down to about $15 million,” Talley said. “At that point, we’ll need to be taking in enough revenue to pay for expenses.”
He said for now, the county could continue to hold water rate increases to a minimum. He also said there would be no increase in wastewater rates in the coming year.
Talley said in 1998 when Tampa Bay Water was created, the cost of a thousand gallons of water was 79 cents. Today, the cost is $2.30 per thousand gallons.
“Had we not had the rate stabilization fund, Pinellas County’s rates would be the highest on the chart,” he said. “And, Clearwater’s would be even higher since it buys from us.”
“There are new laws in place today and we’re no longer allowed to pump all the ground water we want,” Commissioner Susan Latvala said. “We had to find new forms of water. The days of low water prices are gone.”
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Article published on Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2008
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