WINTER SPRINGS, Fla. – News 6 has confirmed the city of Winter Springs is internally discussing a huge utility rate hike to pay for its aging wastewater system which could cost as much as $100 million to replace.
The city’s wastewater treatment plant is more than 50 years old.
How much it will cost to replace and how much it will cost citizens has been a mystery until now.
City commissioners Victoria Colangelo and Cade Resnick confirmed to News 6 that interim City Manager Philip Hursh notified them utility rates could jump as high as 11% per year for the next five years. Compounded, that would be a 68% hike.
[TRENDING: Become a News 6 Insider]
For perspective, if your bill is currently $150, in five years, it would shoot up to more than $250.
Colangelo blamed inflation and said there has been “no increase in several years and now we have to elevate it more than ever.”
At last night’s city commission meeting, Resnick was the first to speak publicly about the impending increase.
“It’s becoming more public that we’re going to have an increase for our water systems, whether it’s storm water and other things, so there’ll be a tax increase,” Resnick said. “So I was wondering the thought process.”
Mayor Kevin McCann then confirmed the increase is coming but wouldn’t discuss it.
“But we also have to figure out that, without nitpicking, it’s not a tax, it’s a fee,” McCann said. “And we’re going to have to get through all the different things and talk about it. We don’t even know if we do rate increases.”
He went on to say inflation has been 9.5% over the past 12 months and prices are continuing to go up.
“First we have to find out how much it’s even going to be. We’re just early, early trying to work this stuff out, it’s becoming apparently clear after 15 years there’s going to be some increase,” he said. “We know that the utilities are costing us more, employees want raises, trash removal is going to cost us more, they’re charging us more. We’re going to start losing money and have to justify that.”
Jesse Phillips, president of the Winter Springs Community Association, has been demanding the city share what it knows about the rate hike with everyone, not just commissioners.
“I heard about it from a commissioner who told me about it,” Phillips said. “I thought people deserve to know about this, and so we just sent out an email to our list and so I talked to the county, I talked to the state and anybody I can to say, ‘Is there anything we can do to keep this from happening?’ At some point, we have to start asking questions about the city’s solvency. How are we going to pay for this?”
Phillips emailed some 12,000 residents on his community email list to notify them of the potential large utility rate hike.
“We can’t (pay for it), we can’t,” Phillps said. “Which is why the people replying to me asking, ‘What do we do?’ I just give them the contact info for the county of the state representative.”
Winter Springs spokesperson Matthew Reeser emailed this response to News 6.
“The City of Winter Springs conducted a very preliminary estimate of the design, construction, and ongoing operations of the two new wastewater treatment plants. It must be emphasized that the City Commission recently awarded the engineering design contract, and City staff are currently negotiating fees before signing the contract with the selected bidder.
For transparency, it was essential to provide City Commissioners and the Mayor with regular updates on the progress of the design and construction of these new facilities due to their high cost. The City will only have a definitive estimate of the actual rate increase once the design is far enough along and the project is awarded to the Contractor.
The current estimate assumes numerous factors, including the rate of inflation and future material and labor costs. These costs are variable and subject to change in the coming years. It should be noted that any rate increase would not be in the near term.
Rest assured, the City remains committed to being as open and transparent with our citizens as possible. To that end, we will communicate any potential changes to our citizens as soon as possible. We also remain committed to finding the most cost-effective solutions and minimizing the impact on our customers as we move forward in this process.
Matthew Reeser, Winter Springs spokesperson
Resnick confirmed he “learned that 11% is a possibility.”
“What I do know... is that there will be an increase,” Resnick said. “From what I know in speaking with the city manager and staff, we will be working through how much in the next few weeks and be able to give to the people a more accurate amount. You asked, ‘Why is the commission not sharing those conversations?’ I cannot speak for the other commissioners, only for myself. As I receive the information and put it all together, I want to be able to know for sure what is the accurate information. I do not want to tell people 11% and get them freaked out if it is really going to be 6% and the opposite I do not want to tell people 11% and it really be 16%. Which is why I shared last night that there will be an increase and beyond that, I believe the next few weeks will be a great guide to tell us what and why.”
Colangelo said “there is no choice” but to raise rates as high as necessary.
“We need a bond for $70-100 million, how else are we going to pay for the new wastewater treatment facilities?” Colangelo said.
Phillips said he wants more information as soon as possible.
“Maybe we don’t actually know the numbers that we’re looking at,” Phillips said. “The degree of the lack of information from the city over the years has been a challenge that we’ve repeatedly butt up against.”
Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: