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© St. Petersburg Times, published October 22, 2002
PORT RICHEY -- For years, City Manager Vince Lupo has been warning the City Council that a water rate increase was coming to Port Richey utility customers.
The rate increase debate arrives tonight.
Port Richey City Council members will open debate on the first rate changes since 1991 at 7:30 p.m. tonight at City Hall, 6333 Ridge Road.
Overall, the city needs to raise rates to make $248,000 more a year to balance the budgets and fix problems. A city study found that to make up the gap, average Port Richey utility customers using 3,000 gallons of water per month, would see their current monthly bill of $31.69 go up to $36.47.
The rate increase took on greater importance last month when the council approved a city budget that included the rate increase.
Mayor Eloise Taylor said Monday that considering the budget and maintenance costs the city will soon face, the council has no choice but to pass it.
"I don't think there is any alternative," Taylor said.
City utilities consultant Gary Deremer told the council last month that the city ducked increasing water rates for so long by pumping more water out of the city's wells. It costs the city $1.01 per 1,000 gallons to pump water and $2.52 per 1,000 gallons to buy it from New Port Richey.
Lupo and Deremer have long blamed increasing water costs from their neighbor as the reason for the city's impending rate hike.
Now, Port Richey's wells can't pump any more and a city effort to pump water from another property hasn't gone as well as planned, Deremer has said. The Gills property, once billed as the city's key to water independence, might not produce enough to make it worth the millions it would cost to build wells, he said.
-- Matthew Waite covers Port Richey city government. He can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6247, or toll free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6247. His e-mail address is waite@sptimes.com .