Pinellas Park — The City Council voted unanimously Thursday to adopt Ordinance No. 2025-27, setting potable water, reclaimed water and sanitary sewer utility rates and updating a range of connection and miscellaneous fees based on a consultant study recommending increased annual adjustments and cost-recovery for several service fees.

Stantec Consulting's Kyle Stevens presented the rate update and told the council the city's utility funds have experienced a period of high capital spending that drew down reserves. "What we are proposing this evening is moving those annual adjustments up another 1.75%...so up to 5% a year," Stevens said, adding the higher annual increases would restore fund balance targets and provide more predictable capital funding.

Key elements: The consultant recommended increasing planned annual rate adjustments from the previously adopted 3.25% (from an earlier study) to 5% per year for the next several years to rebuild reserves. For reclaimed water, Stantec recommended simplifying residential reclaimed rates to a single flat charge — proposed at $16.54 per month — which would raise bills modestly for most reclaimed customers and lower bills for the small number of reclaimed users who exceed an existing high-use threshold. The firm also produced a defensibility analysis for the sanitary sewer capital recovery fee, supporting the city's existing fee of roughly $2,060 and showing defensible support up to about $3,401 based on system valuation assumptions.

Staff also proposed miscellaneous fee changes to bring charges to full cost recovery on items such as backflow preventer installations and testing, automated metering infrastructure (AMI) meter components, hose-whip and camlock replacements on reclaimed connections, meter testing and a higher after-hours turn-on fee. The presentation included a proposal for a monthly backflow testing charge for accounts with backflow devices (a two-tier structure proposed at roughly $3/month for smaller devices and $14/month for larger ones).

Public comment included both support and concern. Retiree Ed Taylor told the council he appreciated the consultant's clear presentation and expressed support for the need to maintain the system. Other residents and property owners raised concerns about how increases will affect households and multi-unit properties; staff provided sample bill impacts, noting the city's minimum combined water, sewer and garbage charge would move from about $81.91 to $88.79 under the proposed package and that bills including reclaimed service would increase from about $94.03 to $105.33 under the proposed adjustments.

Council members asked for clarifications about how capital recovery charges apply to multi-unit developments and whether developers are charged per connection; staff and the consultant said connection fees scale by meter size and usage category and that multi-unit fees are assessed per dwelling when the code defines multi-residential connections as separate units.

The ordinance on rates, fees and related changes (Ordinance No. 2025-27) was adopted on second and final reading by unanimous vote. Council directed staff to finalize fee tables and update customer communications and billing systems.