Manatee County approves slight increase in utility bills. Here’s how much it will cost
Beginning in October, utility bills for Manatee County customers will increase by about $2 per month in order to pay for maintenance and improvements to the water treatment system.
The rate increase comes after a third-party consultant conducted a study suggesting an increase, which will help the department work toward repairing the Lake Manatee dam and installing a new water microfiltration system.
According to county staff, the average customer who pays Manatee County for their water bill will see a monthly increase of about $2.55. The full cost of the increase, which goes into effect Oct. 1, will be about $31 a year.
Utility rates are increased every few years, but the rates have remained the same since April 2018. Even after the update, county staff highlighted that Manatee’s rates are still lower than Sarasota, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.
The average utility customer in Manatee will pay about $78 a month. In comparison, customers in Hillsborough pay $88, customers in Pinellas pay $95 and customers in Sarasota pay $107 a month.
“Manatee County has done better than any other county in managing our water and our utilities. You see how well we’ve done it. We haven’t raised rates in over 2 years,” Commissioner George Kruse said. “We’ve got to maintain our water more than virtually anything else in Manatee County. This is a very reasonable increase and I fully support it.”
“In the utility arena, we’re doing a great job,” Commissioner Misty Servia added.
Other commissioners weren’t sold on the idea of raising the utility rates, especially after recently voting to approve a tax cut on the average homeowner.
“I think we have a great department, but the timing on this might be a little off,” said Commissioner Vanessa Baugh, who pointed out that residents are still struggling with income loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Baugh found support from Commissioner James Satcher. He said he couldn’t vote in support of the utility bill increase, highlighting its potential impact on low-income communities.
“This affects the disadvantaged disproportionately. I don’t believe the case has been made strong enough,” Satcher argued. “If I was convinced that the dam was going to fall down and we were going to dry up tomorrow, I would vote for it, but that’s not the case.”
County Administrator Scott Hopes urged board members to vote in favor of the increase, clarifying that a utility rate increase isn’t the same as a tax increase.
“I appreciate the comments, but I want to remind the newer commissioners that these are enterprise funds. This has to fund all the future maintenance and improvements to the system,” Hopes said. “The mere fact that they’ve stayed flat for 4 years and have not raised rates in 3 years and are still substantially lower than surrounding counties, I really ask for your support for this because we need to bond for future investments to keep up with the growth.”
The board has also debated giving utility customers a $50 credit on their utility bill in December, but those plans have been put on hold until 2022 while officials review legal concerns.
Commissioners voted 5-2 to approve the new utility rate, with Baugh and Satcher voting against the increase.
This story was originally published August 24, 2021 at 2:24 PM.
