Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Utilities Rates topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Consultant warns Lake Placids water/wastewater rates insufficient; council directs staff to draft rate ordinance
Summary
A Florida Rural Water Association rate analysis showed the towns current water and wastewater revenues wont cover capital needs and projected operations without rate increases; staff presented recommended multi-year increases and council gave consensus to draft an ordinance.
A rate study presented Sept. 15 by the Florida Rural Water Association found that Lake Placids current water and wastewater rates do not fully cover capital needs and that reserves will be exhausted without rate increases.
Diana Jo Stewart of Florida Rural Water briefed the council on the analysis. She said the towns existing billed rates were lower than the ordinance text adopted in late 2023 and that current revenues will not meet planned capital expenditures and debt-service requirements. The study identified a projected need to draw on reserves in the current fiscal year (a figure discussed in the packet of roughly $346,000), and concluded that without rate increases the town could exhaust reserves by the end of fiscal year 2027. Stewart recommended a staged approach: implement the suggested increases promptly (staff aimed for an Oct. 1 effective date in the study) and follow with additional adjustments in subsequent years to restore reserves to a recommended minimum of approximately 90 days of operation and maintenance expenses.
Stewart and staff explained the methodology: actual expenditures, the current budget, the towns capital improvement plan, a conservative 5% escalation for future operating costs and the towns existing customer consumption profiles were used to model revenues and reserve trajectories. The study also carried forward asset-management recommendations from prior work and noted additional assets (meters, buildings, vehicles) that were not fully inventoried and would increase planned lifecycle funding.
Council members and several members of the public urged clear communications to residents about why rates must rise and recommended public-relations work to explain that increases address legacy shortfalls and capital needs rather than new development. Pam Petrus and others urged the town to prepare an outreach plan. Council agreed by consensus to direct staff to prepare an ordinance that would incorporate the recommended adjustments and a mechanism to tie future adjustments to a CPI-based trigger; staff and counsel will draft the ordinance for council consideration at an upcoming meeting.
