Flagler Beach Prepares to Utility Rates by $8.76 a Month

The Flagler Beach City Commission on Nov. 14 is expected to vote on a series of utility-rate increases for water, sewer, stormwater and trash services that would increase the bill on a residential household by $8.76 per month, or $105 for the year.

The commission had approved the increases at its budget workshop in late summer. It must now formalize the proposal by ordinance, after hearing from residents. There has been some opposition building on social media, though that’s not unusual ahead of utility rate increases. Palm Coast is preparing to increase its own utility rates substantially more sometime next year.

Both cities are in the midst of large-scale expansions of their wastewater (or sewer) plants, and both are under consent orders from the state Department of Environmental Protection to do so.

Flagler Beach conducted a utility rate study before determining its new fee schedule. The base water rate is currently $39.67. The base sewer rate is $25.67. Both will increase by 3.5 percent (to $41.05 and $26.57). The flow rates–or actual consumption–will also increase by 3.5 percent. Monthly trash fees will also go up by 3.5 percent (from $23.78 to $24.62), as will the recycling fee (from $2.33 to $2.41). Those increases are slightly more than the inflation rate.

In sum, the typical household’s utility bill, taking base rates only, will go from $110 to $118.76.

“An assumption for the next five years is the ability to use $6.1 Million from Water and Sewer Impact Fees on projects that qualify, such as new wells and projects that support growth and increased capacity,” City Manager Dale Martin wrote in a memo to commissioners. “City Staff will also continue to apply for and obtain grant funding for eligible projects.” Impact fees are the one-time fees developers pay on new construction to defray the “impact” of new homes and businesses on infrastructure. But impact fee revenue may only be used on projects that expand capacity, not on maintenance and operations, which are financed with revenue from rate-payers.

Despite the rate increases, the city will still have a $1.1 million deficit in its water and sewer operations. “One of the reasons is the high costs of repairs to our aging infrastructure,” Martin wrote.

From Oct. 25 to Oct. 31, the city’s sewer plant treated 5.7 million gallons of waste, a daily average of 816,000 gallons, in a week without rain. The water plant produced 4.2 million gallons of water to residents and businesses during the period, an average of 604,000 gallons per day, or a 1 percent increase from the comparable period a year ago. The water and sewer fund is operating on a projected $7 million in revenue this year.

The largest proportional increase will be in the stormwater fee, which will go up from $14.58 to $20 per month, a 37 percent increase. (The monthly stormwater fee in Palm Coast is $32.87, going up to $39.10 by 2027.)