Orange Park leaders weigh multiyear water and sewer rate increases as residents press for accounting

Town Manager (Town Manager) proposed a multi‑year plan March 3 that would raise residential base water rates immediately and over the next two years to rebuild reserves and cover sharply higher operating costs.

The manager told the council that system operating costs have risen dramatically since the last rate change — staff cited a 174% increase in water operations, a 192% rise for sewer operations and a more than 300% jump in chlorine costs — and recommended an initial 8% increase for the current fiscal year followed by 7% increases in the next two years. Under staff’s schedule 1 example, the residential base charge would rise from $16.96 to $18.32 on adoption and move to about $20.97 after the projected increases in later years. For multifamily accounts (schedule 2) staff showed a progression from $14.42 to…