Water rate increase proposed to start in April

By LEONORA LaPETER

© St. Petersburg Times, published January 13, 2001

ST. PETERSBURG -- A water rate increase that was supposed to go into effect in November is now proposed for April.

But the increase won't be as high as originally proposed.

Mayor David Fischer is seeking a 5 percent increase in the water rate. If approved, the average customer using about 5,600 gallons of water would pay about 67 cents more per month or $8.04 a year.

The City Council approved a 5.5 percent sewer rate increase last November but held off on a recommended 8-percent water rate increase because of word from Tampa Bay Water that the city might have paid as much as $1-million too much last year, said City Administrator Tisch Elston.

In the end, the city learned it had paid more than $600,000 over what it owed. It also collected higher-than-expected earnings on money received from the sale of the city's well fields in 1998 to Tampa Bay Water.

So the city decided to pare down its water increase.

"By delaying the increase, citizens haven't had to pay the increase for the first six months of the fiscal year and they'll pay the last six months at a lower rate," Elston said. "Obviously when you're increasing rates no one views it as a break."

Elston said notice of the water rates would appear in the next water bill. A public hearing is set for March 1. The rates would go into effect April 1.

The city has borrowed about $50-million to replace pipes, some as old as 100 years, and upgrade its water and wastewater systems.

A 1998 rate study determined the city would need to invest $120-million in its water and sewer system over the next five years. City officials have said they need to increase rates as much as 30 percent over the next five years.

This is the third increase for water rates since January 1999, when water rates went up 4.3 percent. In January 2000, water rates increased 8 percent.

Elston said the city will look to increase water and sewer rates again in 2002 and every year after that.

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