Water fee may rise for some

The county considers doubling the cost for high-volume water users. But some say that would unfairly penalize larger families.

By STEVE HUETTEL

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 7, 2000

TAMPA -- Thousands of residents in unincorporated Hillsborough County who consume more than twice as much water as the average household could pay a premium for those extra gallons.

Hillsborough County commissioners will consider a plan this afternoon to double the cost of water to residential customers using more than 15,000 gallons a month.

County water officials say hitting high-volume users in the pocketbook is the best way to cut consumption during droughts. Commissioners could lift the premium charge when emergency conditions abate -- and reimpose the rates when they return -- without a public hearing.

"If you're using more than (15,000 gallons monthly), it's discretionary water use," said John Fischer, water department spokesman. "We don't need green lawns. We don't need swimming pools. But we need water to drink; we need water to cook."

The average customer served by the county uses about 7,500 gallons a month, he said. About 12 percent of the customers, roughly 13,000 throughout unincorporated Hillsborough County, consume more than 15,000 gallons monthly.

The county already has a tiered system that escalates charges as water consumption rises.

Charges for each 1,000 gallons go up as customers hit certain levels: $2.25 for the first 8,000 gallons, $2.35 for the next 7,000, $3.55 for the next 15,000, $4.10 for the next 20,000 and $4.70 for more than 50,000 gallons.

The rates for all five tiers will rise about 4 percent on July 1. Commissioners will vote at a public hearing at 5:30 p.m. today to double the charge for the top three tiers during water emergencies like this year's drought.

Some commissioners worried Tuesday that they might be punishing people with large families such as David Pointer, pastor of Grace Evangelical Church in downtown Tampa.

Eleven people live at his home in the Country Way subdivision. A daughter, her husband and their child are in a garage apartment. Pointer, his wife and six children live in the main house.

They regularly use 20,000 gallons or more each month, not surprising in a household where an average day involves six loads of laundry, about a dozen baths or showers and countless toilet flushes. His Bahia grass lawn, which Pointer says he never waters, is dead.

If the county's monthly average of 7,500 gallons is based on a family four, as he's been told, his family's per capita use is right in line, Pointer said.

"The whole concept is not right," he said. "They have no way of knowing how many people are in a household. There's got to be another way."

Commissioners Ben Wacksman and Jan Platt agree.

They suggested doubling rates only for the top two tiers -- households that use more than 30,000 gallons -- so big families don't get hit unfairly. That would affect only about 4,000 customers.

"I'm not convinced this is equitable and encourages conservation," Wacksman said.

-- Steve Huettel can be reached at (813) 226-3384, or at huettel@sptimes.com.

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