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Utilities director previews $280 million water-plant project, rate adjustments and maintenance costs
Summary
Utilities Director Hassan Hajimeiri told commissioners the department serves nearly 70,000 residents, operates a 15-million-gallon-a-day water system, and expects to seek revenue increases and revenue-bond financing to help pay for a new $280 million water-treatment plant and other capital projects.
Hassan Hajimeiri, director of Utilities, gave the City Commission an overview of the utilities department's operating and capital outlook at the April 22 budget workshop, emphasizing the scale of planned capital work and the need to align rates and bond financing.
Hajimeiri said utilities serve about 17 square miles and nearly 70,000 residents with roughly 21,217 customer accounts. He said the system produces about 15,000,000 gallons per day of drinking water, transfers about 8,000,000 gallons per day of wastewater to the South Central Regional Wastewater Plant and provides about 2,300,000 gallons per day of reclaimed water for irrigation.
The director reported the utility produced about 5.2 billion gallons of drinking water last year, completed the Environmental Protection Agency–required service-line inventory for lead and copper (visiting nearly 14,000 homes), conducted about 33,000 water-quality analyses, and had no water-quality violations in the past five years.
Hajimeiri presented staffing and budget figures: the utility has nine divisions and 146 full-time employees. He said the FY2026 combined personnel and operating estimate is about $51.94 million, a 7.8% increase over the current year, driven in part by a class-and-compensation study, ratified collective-bargaining adjustments affecting SEIU staff, retention bonuses for water-treatment-plant operators and higher chemical and maintenance costs at the existing plant.
On capital, Hajimeiri listed an FY2026 capital-improvement program total near $17.9 million for work already in process and highlighted the proposed new water-treatment plant with an estimated total cost of about $280 million. He said $15 million has already been committed for design and that the city is planning for revenue bonds to finance construction. "We are coming before you on May 6 for another rate adjustment in order to fund the new water treatment plant," Hajimeiri said.
The CIP list also includes replacement of major wastewater pump station equipment (Pump Station 50), generator upgrades, variable-frequency-drive replacements, and a multi-million-dollar Tropic Isle pipeline and stormwater-related project that Hajimeiri said utilities has committed $7.5 million toward while seeking additional grant funding.
Hajimeiri noted nearly $14 million in annual transfers and administrative charges calculated by the Department of Finance that are part of utility operating expense and highlighted the need to maintain operations of the existing water-treatment plant while preparing for the new facility.
Commissioners and staff thanked Hajimeiri for the detail; the city manager's office said it will present preliminary budget recommendations at a June 10 workshop and a formal recommended budget in July.
