St. Augustine commissioners pass rate, fee increases, refer to Jackson water crisis

St. Augustine commissioners recently passed rate and fee increases that will take effect Oct. 1, including water and wastewater charges.

Pointing to the Jackson, Mississippi, water crisis, a commissioner called the increase a necessary step to keep the city's water infrastructure healthy.

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Among other increases, monthly water and wastewater rates will increase for both residential and commercial utility customers inside and outside of the city limits.

"And these rates and fees will fund the operations of the fund and continue the upkeep and replacement (of) all equipment," Financial Services Director Mark Simpson said.

For example, the base charge for residential water customers inside the city is going from $14.69 to $15.28 per month, which covers 100 gallons. Block rates added on top of that based on the amount of water consumption are also increasing.

The full list of rate and fee increases and the proposed city budget are at citystaug.com under agendas and minutes, listed in the packet for the Sept. 8 City Commission special meeting. The final hearing for the budget and property tax rates will be at 5:05 p.m. Sept. 22 at The Alcazar Room at City Hall.

Commissioner Barbara Blonder said "it's unfortunate" that the increases are coming during inflation and she sympathizes with people who will have a greater financial burden.

"But when you look at the headlines coming out of Jackson, Mississippi ... when you look at Flint, Michigan, where there is going to be a lasting legacy of lead pollution in their waters because they were trying to cut costs and made some very bad decisions, I think we're on the right track. In fact I feel like we very much so are on the right track in being proactive in fully funding our utilities and .. doing what we need to do," Blonder said.

After excessive rainfall led to flooding at the Pearl River in late August, one of two water-treatment plants in Jackson, Mississippi, failed. Low or no water pressure left many residents without sufficient water to drink, bathe or flush toilets.

People in Jackson have had very low water pressure or discolored water coming from their faucets in the aftermath of the failure.

While officials say water pressure has returned to Jackson, there is still a boil-water advisory and 150,000 residents still lack drinking water.

People have lined up for hours for water bottles handed out by the city and organizations in recent weeks, and many are still relying on packaged water to cook and drink.

Jackson residents have been under a boil water advisory since July after the health department discovered cloudy water that could cause health issues.

Water problems are not uncommon in Jackson due to its aging infrastructure that is in desperate need of upgrades. Residents there have faced concerns over lead, and a cold snap last year froze pipes, leaving them without water for weeks.

Blonder said the city of St. Augustine's rate increases are far less than the cost of having to buy bottled water for everything.

Blonder said she has asked the city manager to look at examining the rate structure to see "whether there are ways to more fairly balance the ... cost with the users" before the next budget cycle.

Mayor Tracy Upchurch echoed Blonder's comments.

"I really appreciate you reminding us of the tragedy, and it is a tragedy in Jackson, Mississippi, and it's decades of neglect. And we are doing exactly the right thing for not only the community today but the community in the future," Upchurch said.

Commissioner John Valdes said a greater tragedy is that "so many people rely on bottled water to replace the poor water they're getting from municipalities."

"And all that does is continue the environmental catastrophe this planet is facing with the consumption of more fossil fuels to make the plastic bottles then disposing of them. so we all need good water coming from our taps. Maybe we'd buy less bottles," he said.

Budget and fees

• The stormwater utility fee rate is increasing from $9 to $9.82 per month per single family unit.

• Solid waste service fees are increasing, such as the total residential fee per month. That is increasing $5 a month to $27.44.

• The total budget is over $74.6 million, just under $10 million more than the original budget approved for the current fiscal year.

• The property tax rate will stay at 7.5 mills. But property values have increased, so that rate is above what the city needs to charge to bring in the same amount of property tax revenue in the next fiscal year. That amount, called the rolled-back rate, is 6.6168 mills.

• Keeping the millage rate the same is expected to bring in about $2.1 million in added revenue, according to the city's budget book.

• Over $24.42 million is in the city's Capital Improvement Plan for the upcoming budget year, including West Augustine sewer upgrades, wastewater treatment plant improvements, mobility upgrades, paving replacement and more.

― Jeanine Santucci of USA TODAY contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on St. Augustine Record: City of St. Augustine to raise water, sewer rates and fees