Council adopts utility billing changes after months of high-bill complaints; staff says backlog cleared

St. Petersburg City Council unanimously adopted Ordinance 607h, amending city code to change how leak and abnormal-event adjustments are calculated and administered.

Billing and Collections Director Candace Winter told council the ordinance changes will calculate water charges for leak relief using the Tampa Bay water rate ($2.64) rather than the city's tier-1 rate and will allow relief for abnormal events (including declared emergencies) of up to 10,000 gallons for water and sewer. Winter said the ordinance will take effect for meter reads beginning May 27, 2025, and that staff also revised related policy documents and application forms to match the new code language.

Winter also reported operational progress: "As of yesterday, as of last evening, we are all caught up and there are no more delayed bills," and staff described revised bill-review forms and steps to resolve many cases administratively rather than requiring Utility Billing Review Committee (UBRC) hearings.

Council and staff discussed technical and outreach issues. Public commenters during open forum had urged stronger council oversight after months of disputed and adjusted bills; several speakers described large disputed charges and asked why the city had not communicated effectively. Staff said meter hardware problems producing over-reads are not known citywide and that older meters are generally prone to under-reading, not over-reading. Staff described direct outreach to customers identified as eligible for relief and said the UBRC process remains available for those whose cases require committee review.

The ordinance and its companion resolutions correcting procedures and creating an "abnormal-event" adjustment were approved unanimously.