Town adopts rate hikes to water utility
The Fort Myers Beach Town Council approved a petition resolution for rate adjustment for the Public Works Services, Inc., which set all system rates and charges within the water utility at a public hearing in Council Chambers Monday.
After much deliberation, the Council adopted a modified version of Resolution No. 09-32 which includes rate increase to all rates, charges and fees including but not limited to all user and administrative fees to include:
n a 23 percent increase on the cost for 1,000 gallons billed using a modified block rate schedule;
n a 10 percent base rate increase in conjunction with a per unit base rate charge for multi-family accounts;
n the amount $2.72 added to the base rate charge for single family and multi-family units and $2.72 multiplied by the EIU equivalent for commercial accounts to fund annual capital emergency reserves of approximately $3,000;
n a 23 percent increase to all the system fees and charges requested in the petition.
The effective date of the increase is Jan. 1, 2010, and the sunset date will be Dec. 31, 2012. The petition allows Town Council to be able to modify the annual rate increase on May 1 of each year.
“The Town Council finds this increase is in the best interest of the Town utility customers and citizens by a 5-0 consensus,” said interim Town Manager Jack Green.
The rate hike comes after PWSI adopted Resolution 09-22U to accept a water utility rate study report and its own Ad-Hoc Committee report to approve the filing of a Petition for Rate Adjustment with Town Council in accordance with Ordinance 2001-03. The public hearing on the rate adjustment petition was set Nov. 16 and public notice was mailed to all water utility customers with the October 2009 billing and reported in the Fort Myers News Press on Nov. 9.
Nine Beach residents -most of whom were opposed to the increase- presented arguments and suggestions towards the subject during Public Comment. Florida Rural Water Association’s Tom Gustafson, who presented a rate review for the Town earlier in the year, and Water Utility Ad-Hoc Chair Alan Mandel, who was instrumental with his committee’s findings, were also on hand to answer questions.
“To remind everyone, we are in default of our bank loan and it is illegal to be in that condition,” said Mandel. “Our committee’s concern was to end our state of being in default and to build back the reserves to some extent. We’re recognizing those two conditions and building a rate structure that will get us out of the default condition. It becomes very important that as a group we look at the $12 million of work that an engineering company has suggested we need to do (to fix a faulty, aging water system) and figure out some longer-term method to finance that.”
Mayor Larry Kiker called the whole water utility situation a pass/fail process.
“It’s this Council’s responsibility to run this company legally,” he said. “We also need to get another three-year loan, but that’s hard to do when you’re out of compliance. It’s a pass-fail and right now we fail.”
After the meeting, Kiker had a chance to reflect.
“This was some of the best public comment I have heard since being on Council,” he said. “Due to such high interest, I will offer any of our council member’s services on an individual basis to talk to any condominium association or any group of individuals about the matter.”