VERO BEACH — The Vero Beach City Council Monday approved a smaller rate hike to water and sewer bills than it voted on last year, increasing sewer rates by 10 percent, or $3.96 a month for typical water users.
The vote came down 3 to 2 with Councilmen Ken Daige and Brian Heady voting against the measure because they opposed any further increases in utility rates. “I’m not voting to approve any rate increase that is going to hurt the folks on the water and sewer system, especially those on the sewer system, this is the wrong thing to do right now,” Daige said.
The revised increase raises the rate from $2.93 to $3.59 per 1,000 gallons, instead of the $4.06 per 1,000, which is scheduled to kick in Thursday.
Water and Sewer Director Rob Bolton said that, instead of the scheduled $6.78 increase, typical water and sewer customers using 6,000 gallons of service would see an increase of $3.96 per month.
Daige said he could not, in good conscience, vote for the resolution, even if it does amount to a decrease of the planned increase in rates because it’s still an increase over what customers paid in March.
“I don’t think the citizens think that we should do any increases of any of the city utilities,” Daige said, pointing out that unemployment is at an all-time high and that he’s been “begging” staff to reduce rates, not to raise them.
The past three meetings, Daige has urged the staff to do whatever is necessary to get rates down.
“I think we can do better. The city manager should challenge his staff to do better,” he said.
Tom White, who has also been against rate hikes but whose support was needed for approval after Daige and Heady dissented, said his vote for the measure was being cast based on his reliance that Bolton would come back with a budget that would allow the city to reduce rates in October.
“We sat and talked for a long time and talked with staff to see what we could do to minimize what had to be done this year,” White said, adding that an incremental increase is needed to fund expenses while a strategy to cut spending is devised.
“We just have to be competitive and we just have to cut,” White said.
Looking to the future, Heady warned his fellow council that City of Vero Beach taxpayers would be left holding the tab if county and Indian River Shores customers leave the system in search of stable and affordable rates.
“If we keep raising to the point where the county customers bolt, we’re going to leave the debt to a smaller group, to the city taxpayers,” he said.
Originally, water rates were set to go up 7.5 percent and sewer rates were set to go up 29.5 percent last October. To cushion the blow, the city split the difference, passing a phased-in 18 percent increase on Oct. 1, coupled with another 18 percent on April 1 for the sewer rates, which consultants have said is needed to balance the budget over a year’s time.
Customers have been paying the first step of the sewer rate hike, along with higher rates for drinking water, for six months now.
