Apopka council approves 15.5% water and wastewater rate increase; orders monthly meter progress reports

The Apopka City Council on Sept. 17 approved Resolution 2025-38, adopting new water, wastewater and reclaimed-water rate schedules that include a 15.5% increase to support the FY 2025–26 utility operating fund. The vote followed an extended public comment period and more than an hour of questions from commissioners about meter failures, estimated bills and transfers from the utility fund to the general fund.

Council approval put the rate increase into the city's adopted budget for the coming fiscal year and followed a staff presentation explaining that the change was needed to support utility operations and capital priorities. "The proposed rates reflect a 15.5% increase to support the adopted budget for FY 25-26 utility operating fund," said Blanche, a city staff member who presented the rate schedules and answered council questions.

The rate decision matters to customers already receiving estimated bills and to low-income households, several of whom told the council the increase would be a hardship. "Please, please, please, when you see this come through on the estimates, don't punish these people. They're desperate," said Renee Bailey, a resident who said she was speaking for neighbors unable to pay sharply higher, backdated estimated bills.

Residents and commissioners pressed staff for details about the meters that produce many of those estimates. Several commenters and commissioners said the city has relied on long-running estimated readings when meter reads fail; one frequent speaker, Bridal Olsen, said the council had discussed replacing malfunctioning meters for three years without results. "Our budget process is a joke," Olsen said during public comment, adding that the city continues to approve new development without fixing infrastructure.

Staff and others gave specific programmatic updates and timelines in response. Sean Ocasio, utilities staff, said the meter-repair program has reduced the number of unread or estimated accounts since the program began. "We started out in October when the program started. We were at 31% and we are trending down to about 15% now," Ocasio said when asked how many bills are currently estimated. He added the city bills roughly 30,000 customer accounts and that staff were working to reduce the share of estimated reads.

Council members also questioned indirect costs charged from enterprise funds to the general fund. "What are those indirect costs?" Commissioner Velasquez asked staff, noting that about $6.2 million in indirect cost transfers had been budgeted from the utility fund to the general fund. Staff said the transfer represents allocations for shared services such as information technology and human resources and that the departments had supplied the allocation breakdown to commissioners.

To address the meter problems that many residents blamed for unusually large, unexpected bills, staff outlined technical and operational steps: ordering replacement meters, increasing on-hand meter stock to avoid supply delays, installing new FlexNet base stations to improve wireless coverage for remote reads, closer coordination between utility operations and finance, and pursuing fee changes for new taps and installations to better reflect actual costs. Staff also said they will pursue collections and charge procedures for third-party contractors who damage water lines.

Council members pressed for both near- and mid-term accountability. Mayor Brian Nelson and commissioners asked staff to return regular progress reports; staff and the council agreed to a commitment for monthly updates on the meter repair and replacement program through January, with a fuller review after the first quarter of FY 2026. "Every month until we come back, give them a progress report on the meters," the mayor said during the meeting.

The council took the formal action—approval of Resolution 2025-38—after public comment and more than an hour of discussion. The motion to approve the resolution was made by Commissioner Smith and seconded by Commissioner Velasquez. Council direction accompanying the vote asked staff to continue payment-plan options for customers with large adjustments and to return in mid-January or February with a status update on revenue, estimated-read recaptures and possible budget reductions staff has identified (including vehicle and contingency adjustments).

During the public discussion, residents offered several short-term proposals: using utility reserves to delay the rate increase for households facing hardship, accelerating replacement of meters in neighborhoods with the most estimated bills, and dedicating dividends or other city enterprise revenue to infrastructure. Staff and several commissioners said they were exploring targeted short-term fixes but cautioned that many elements'meter replacement, coverage improvements, and contractual lead times'require several months to show measurable results.

The council's approval sets the rate schedules put into the FY 2026 utility budget; staff said they will return with regular progress reporting on the meter program and additional detail on the indirect-cost allocations that helped drive the budget gap.

For residents who received an estimated bill that results in a large backlog, staff reiterated the city's current operational procedures: estimated reads use the prior 12 months' consumption as the basis until a working meter read is obtained; customers with large adjustments may qualify for a payment plan and are encouraged to contact utility billing staff for assistance.

The resolution and related budget adjustments are effective for FY 2025-26. Council members and staff said they expect to present a detailed status report in January or February on the meter-replacement program, revenue trends and any further options to reduce customer impacts.