PANAMA CITY — Residents in the unincorporated area of Bay County are complaining about recent increases in their utility bills that they say is causing financial stress on working families.
Residents who live in the former town of Cedar Grove vented their frustration at county commissioners on Tuesday.
Wendi Ringenberg was among four residents of the former town who lambasted commissioners for the increase. Ringenberg’s utility bill has increased from $89 in March to $132 dollars in November with the same water and sewer usage.
“That’s grocery and gas money,” she told commissioners. “We’re not getting a pay raise that equals that amount, so the money has to come from somewhere.”
Unincorporated residents outside of Cedar Grove have seen even larger increases in water rates since April, when the county adopted a uniform retail rate for all unincorporated residents.
Dan Gleason, a retiree who lives in Bylsma Manor Estates that is served with county retail water and sewer, said his bill has increased from $90 six months ago to $120 this month.
“I’m not adverse to paying the bill if I’m getting something for it, but personally I don’t think the quality of the water is good,” he said.
His neighbor, Claudia Henderson, said her bill has recently increased from $76 to $108.
“I’m just trying to understand how they measure (the bill), especially when our children are grown and gone and it’s just the two of us.”
She said her neighbors with kids are getting monthly utility bills over $100.
“We are all trying to figure out what on earth has happened here,” she said.
Ringenberg said Thursday that many Cedar Grove residents are on modest or fixed incomes, and the recent increases are taking a real toll on families. She said she several of her neighbors are now paying utility bills of more than $200 a month.
“Some people in my neighborhood are now paying more for water than their electricity,” she said. “We turn off the water when we soap in the shower.”
Ringenberg told commissioners on Tuesday that Cedar Grove residents “have been unfairly saddled with a disproportionate amount of the water utility increase.”
‘I don’t do nothing’: In 2008, Cedar Grove was dissolved after a vote of the residents, the first time that happened in the history of Florida.
After that, the residents voted to hand over all operations of government to Bay County.
“Cedar Grove was dissolved many years ago and you had the opportunity to do a gradual 5 or 10 percent increase per year throughout the entire county instead of targeting a small group of us and burdening families like mine with a 52 percent increase,” Ringenberg told commissioners.
She continued to vent her frustration.
“Apparently you all have no idea what it is like to be a family that has to live on a budget,” she said. “You might have lots of money to spend on your water bill, thanks to your nice salary that taxpayers like me provide, in addition to other salaries and retirement money. But guess what? The rest of us don’t have it.”
County Commission Chairman Guy Tunnell said Bay County inherited a lot of issues when it took over the former town of Cedar Grove, including its utility system and debt. “I know you don’t want to hear that,” Tunnell told Ringenberg.
Noel North, who is disabled and lives on a fixed income in Cedar Grove, said as he stood outside his trailer on Thursday that his utility bill recently increased from $91 a month to $146.
“It’s not good. We’ve cut back on showers, clothes washing,” North said.
Christy Layle, who lives in Cedar Grove and works in the bakery at the Winn Dixie store on U.S. 231, said Friday that she has seen her utility bill increase about $50 to $138 in the last six months.
“It went sky high,” she said. “I’ve been saying it cost $17 to flush the toilet. I have to pay the water bill for six of us.”
She said the utility increase is causing her to delay paying some other bills.
“I don’t drink. I don’t smoke. I don’t do nothing,” she said. “I could go to the movies and take my grandkids here and there, but I’ve kind of had to slack up on that just to pay the water and sewer bill.”
Since April 1, the county has been charging all of its customers in the unincorporated areas the same water and sewer rates.
Prior to that, Cedar Grove’s water and sewer base rates were higher than the rest of the unincorporated area, which explains why unincorporated residents outside of Cedar Grove have seen even a larger percentage increase in their bills lately.
County: Had to get stability: County Utilities Services Director Paul Lackemacher said Thursday that before the county adopted uniform rates, it basically kept charging Cedar Grove residents what the former town was charging, with the only exception being a slight increase in the water usage rate in 2009 to keep up with inflation.
The debt the county incurred when it took over Cedar Grove’s utilities has been paid off, and was not factored into the wholesale utility rates charged to cities, Lackemacher said. He said there are plans to increase utility rates in the unicorporated area 2 percent a year for the next four years.
As an enterprise fund, the county’s utilities must cover expenses, he said.
“We had to get stability in the system,” he said. “The reason we raised the rate is to keep up with operation and maintenance.”
In Florida, environmental regulations must be equal to or more stringent than the federal Environmental Protection Agency regulations.
“The EPA has been coming out with an awful lot of regulations over the last several years,” he said. “That increases our monitoring (costs), our testing, our analysis. Every year, infrastructure and the system and the plants cost more to operate because of ongoing maintenance, and then there are cost increases associated with consumable chemicals, power, fuel. It’s a huge accounting effort to get this all balanced out.”
Cedar Grove
Base monthly water rates
- Prior to April 1 - $12.36. April 1 - 16.40. Oct. 1 - $19.68.
Cedar Grove’s monthly water usage rates for 6,000 to 9,000 gallons:
- Prior to April 1 - $3.36. April 1 - $2.68. Oct. 1 - $3.22.
Base monthly sewer rates:
- Prior to April 1 - $36. April 1 - $28.79. Oct. 1 - $34.55.
Sewer usage rate per 1,000 gallons:
- Prior to April 1 - $3.21. April 1 - $8.87. Oct. 1 - $10.65.
Other unincorporated areas
Base monthly water rates:
- Prior to April 1 - $8.40. April 1 - $16.40. Oct. 1 - $19.68.
Monthly water usage rates for 6,000 to 9,000 gallons:
- Prior to April 1 - $2.03. April 1 - $2.68. Oct. 1 - $3.22.
Base monthly sewer rates:
- Prior to April 1 - $27.59. April 1 - $28.79. Oct. 1 - $34.55.
Monthly sewer usage rate per 1,000 gallons:
- Prior to April 1 - $6.92. April 1 - $8.87. Oct. 1 - $10.65.