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Warning: Water bill may cause stress
By TIM GRANT, Times Staff Writer CARROLLWOOD -- Rick Shepard pays about $80 a month for water that isn't even clean some days. At times "the system is so bad, the water is rusty and black," says Shepard, who lives on Lake Ridge Road. His neighbors across the street pay less and enjoy much better water quality, he says. The difference: Shepard gets his water from a private system that only serves the 937 households in his Original Carrollwood neighborhood. The folks across the street are on Hillsborough County's water system. What's worse, the Florida Government Utilities Authority, a government agency that owns the private system in Original Carrollwood, may start charging more for water and sewer service. And that's without any improvements to the aging system, which is for sale. "We have projected about a 9 percent increase for that system," said Robert Sheets, an assistant manager with the FGUA in Tallahassee. He anticipates the rate increase will take effect Oct. 1. It will be the fourth rate increase these residents have seen since the FGUA took over the private water system in 1999. The increases have added $14.12 to the average monthly bill. Sheets said he will explain to homeowners why the increase is needed at a meeting at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Jimmie Keel Regional Library. "There are no new customers coming in," Sheets said. "So as the costs of operating and maintaining the system rises, we have to pass it on to this limited number of customers." Original Carrollwood was the first housing development in northwest Hillsborough County about 50 years ago when this was mostly wilderness. Its developer built the private water system using clay pipes, which are now starting to collapse and fill with silt. The water and sewer system was owned by Florida Cities Water Co., which sold it to the FGUA, a government entity created to own and operate private water systems in several Florida counties. Right now, an Original Carrollwood resident who uses 8,000 gallons of water per month would receive a water and sewer bill of $90.99. After the FGUA rate hike, the monthly bill will go to $95.60. Hillsborough County residents pay $77.81 for the same amount of water and sewer use. The Carrollwood homeowners want to be hooked up with Hillsborough County's less expensive water system. But new complications with the Southwest Florida Water Management District could delay the FGUA's plan to sell the system to Hillsborough County. Hillsborough County is requiring the FGUA to make about $3-million worth of improvements to the system before selling it to Tampa Bay Water and allowing Carrollwood residents to join the county system. The FGUA would fund the improvements by selling the three private wells that serve Original Carrollwood to Tampa Bay Water for about $1.6-million; the county would contribute another $1.3-million. The improvements to the water system depend on how much the FGUA will profit from the sale of its wells. The value of the wells depends on how much water can be pumped daily. Swiftmud, which determines the quantity pumped, may impose limits, affecting the amount Tampa Bay Water is willing to pay for the wells. Tampa Bay Water will pay less to buy the wells if pumping is limited, leaving the FGUA with less money for the capital improvements. The FGUA now pumps 625,000 gallons a day from the Carrollwood wells. Sheets said his agency has asked permission to pump 820,000 gallons a day. But, Sheets said, Swiftmud has indicated it may actually reduce the limit to 550,000 a day. A Swiftmud spokesman in Brooksville said that scenario does not have to happen. Initially, the FGUA did not explain that the increased pumping would help supply the entire bay area, Michael Molligan said. "The only service area we were looking at was Carrollwood," he said, "and based on the small service area, the FGUA could not justify the demand for more water, and we don't just automatically grant the water. "Now that we know Tampa Bay Water is taking over the system, we're not just looking at Carrollwood anymore. We're looking at the entire Tampa Bay Water service area. Now the FGUA may be able to show demand." But even if the FGUA can justify a demand for increased pumping, Molligan said, the utility will have to show that the additional pumping will not hurt water resources. "If you draw down the aquifer too low, you can have water quality issues," Molligan said. "You could (dry up) wetlands and lakes. The FGUA must show the pumping will not harm the environment." Molligan said Swiftmud will not decide whether to allow the additional pumping until getting more information from the FGUA. He would not estimate when that might occur. Sheets said he anticipates that everything will be submitted before the Sept. 10 meeting. At that meeting, Sheets said he will explain the rate increase, the planned capital improvements, the renewal of the FGUA water use permit with Swiftmud, and how that permit could affect the sale to Tampa Bay Water. Sheets said the FGUA can start improving the Carrollwood water system as soon as Swiftmud decides how much water can be pumped from the wells. He said the improvement project will last about a year. If Swiftmud makes a decision within the next two months, Sheets said Carrollwood residents could be transferred to county water by January 2004. "We may not be able to make all the improvements we hope to prior to the transition," Sheets said. "But we will address the most critical needs." -- Tim Grant can be reached at 269-5311 or at grant@sptimes.com.
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