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By JANET ZINK, Times Staff WriterThe extra $2.70 a month paid by an average homeowner will be used to pay to fix aging water and sewer pipes.
TAMPA - A week after city officials tripled an annual stormwater fee, City Council members voted 5-2 Thursday to raise utility rates by about 4 percent.
The boost, which takes effect in October, will add $2.70 to the average homeowner's monthly bill for water, sewer and solid waste services. Mayor Pam Iorio said the increase is needed to fix the city's aging water and sewer pipes.
Council members Shawn Harrison and Rose Ferlita voted against the higher rates.
Harrison said he didn't want to vote for an increase without exploring other options for raising revenues.
He said he'd rather see the city consider more aggressively increasing rates for water customers who live outside the city limits, and to look at privatizing more solid waste services. About 40 percent of solid waste services now are handled by private contractors.
Going private may not be less expensive, he said, but there's no way of knowing without pricing out the services.
"All it takes is the willingness to ask the question and we're not willing to ask the question," Harrison said. "Until we know what the answer to that is, I think it's irresponsible to pass this increase."
Ferlita said she understands that the city's sewage and water pipes need fixing. And she praised the city staff's plans for improving solid waste service.
But she said Tampa residents have already been hit with increased property taxes, and last week the council tripled an annual stormwater assessment, raising the typical fee from $12 a year to $36.
"If you look at one item at a time, it should be no big deal," said Ferlita. "The whole sum total is the reason I can't support it."
The utilities fee increase will help fund upgrades to water and sewer pipes, said Steve Daignault, the city's administrator for public works and utilities. Sewage pipes have been bursting and collapsing all over the city. Environmental regulators have slapped fines on the city and ordered improvements to the aging sewage system because of excessive overflows of contaminated water.
David McCary, director of the department of solid waste, said the money, among other things, will help expand the yard waste recycling program, build a neighborhood dump site in East Tampa, and buy automated garbage trucks. The utility rate increase is expected to bring in an additional $7.8-million each year for the city.
Even with the increase, Tampa's utility rates will still be below that in other areas, said city finance director Bonnie Wise. The typical monthly bill in Tampa will be $70.40. The average bill in Hillsborough County is $92.72. It's $86 in Temple Terrace and $83.40 in St. Petersburg.
Janet Zink can be reached at 813 226-3401 or jzink@sptimes.com