St. Pete Beach commissioners agreed Tuesday to move forward with a wastewater rate overhaul, after a consultant concluded homeowners and condominium residents have been paying a larger share of the city’s sewer costs than hotels and other commercial customers.
Sean Ocasio of Raftelis Financial Consultants told commissioners the city’s current billing structure does not fairly distribute wastewater costs among customer groups.
His analysis concluded commercial customers are paying less than their proportional share of the wastewater system’s costs, while homeowners and condominium residents are paying more to make up the difference. The proposed changes, Ocasio said, are intended to “treat your customers a little more equitably.”
The study also found the wastewater utility is not generating enough revenue to cover ongoing operations and the long-term work needed to maintain and replace aging infrastructure. According to city staff and Raftelis, the city has relied on utility reserves and transfers from its general fund to help bridge that gap.
Resident Dana Richardson, speaking during public comment, questioned why hotels and other large commercial properties should pay less toward maintaining the wastewater system than the burden they place on it.
“Why are they getting a pass?” Richardson asked.
She pointed to the daily operations of a hotel as an example of why its wastewater demands far exceed those of a typical home or neighborhood business.
“Hotels, I would say, mostly people take two showers a day,” Richardson said. “You’re doing laundry, changing linens every night, two nights, three nights.”
To address the imbalance, Ocasio recommended restructuring commercial rates by increasing base charges for larger water meters and billing commercial customers for all wastewater flows. He said the changes would better align customer bills with the demands each property places on the wastewater system.
Commissioners generally supported the recommendation but spent much of Tuesday’s discussion focused on protecting locally owned businesses from unintended consequences.
Commissioner Karen Marriott said she expects business owners to raise concerns once higher bills begin arriving but believed the shorter timeline was the better approach.
“If we’re going to rip the Band-Aid off, we need to rip the Band-Aid off,” Marriott said.
Resident Kathy Garchow urged commissioners to distinguish between large hospitality properties and neighborhood businesses while making sure the utility can support itself financially.
“We do want to support the small businesses in our community,” Garchow said. “We also want utilities to pay for themselves, which they’ve never done, and part of that is on the city.”
Commissioners ultimately reached consensus to move ahead with a three-year transition to the new rate structure rather than a five-year phase-in. They also directed staff to continue discussions with Pinellas County about a possible takeover of the city’s wastewater utility.
Staff will now prepare an ordinance establishing the new rates for the commission’s formal consideration.
Richardson said asking hotels to shoulder more of the system’s costs is not about opposing tourism, but about making sure the city’s largest wastewater users contribute accordingly.
“I love tourists. I don’t hate the hotels,” she said. “I just want them to step up and start paying their fair share.”
This content provided in partnership with StPeteCatalyst.com
