Growth is increasing your cost of living as an existing resident of Palm Coast, and you’re going to have to pay for it in higher water and sewer bills.
That’s the message from a consultant Palm Coast government hired to analyze the city’s water and sewer utility–how much investment is needed for it to keep up with growth, and how much of that investment will be the responsibility of existing residents. A lot of it would be, if the council were to follow the consultant’s recommendations.
Bottom line: your water and sewer bills would go up by as much as 18 percent over the next three years–somewhat less if the city adopts a more conservation-driven rate structure and you use less than 2,500 gallons of water a month.
“It’s important to recall that it’s growth that’s driving this need for significant capital investment, and continuing to index in the near term to the U.S. Consumer Price Index won’t be sufficient to fund those capital needs,” said Eric Grau of Jacksonville-based Stantec, the design and engineering company.
The burden would not be placed entirely on existing residents. Development impact fees–the one-time fees levied on builders and developers for every new home and every new business built, to defray the cost of that growth’s “impact” on the community–would also be increased significantly: Water and sewer impact fees are currently at $6,145 per new single family home. The consultant projects increases in those fees to $9,218 by 2028, with increases starting in 2025.
Some grant funding will help. Scheduled increases indexed to inflation will help. But neither will be enough to cover very large costs ahead.
The city last conducted such a study in 2017-18, and raised rates in 2018 by 20.6 percent over four years, excluding inflation indexing.
City Council member Theresa Pontieri is not willing to put the cost of growth on existing residents (who are already rebelling about the brisk growth pace they see around them).
She got support from Ed Danko, the vice mayor who today chaired the meeting, as Mayor David Alfin was ill. “We’ve got to worry about what our residents pay. We have a lot of people on fixed income,” Danko said. “I think we’re kind of on the same page here on this.” Danko and Pontieri spoke at the end of a 100-minute presentation by Utility Director Mike Flanagan and Grau, with Grau doing most of the talking. Council members Cathy Heighter and Nick Klufas did not tip their hand.
But if the consultant and Flanagan were looking for an endorsement of their analysis, they did not get it.
The consultant is projecting capital needs of $635.7 million between 2024 and 2033, of which $225 million would be in the next three years. That could be defrayed by $17 million in state and federal grants and a $27 million revolving loan. But it still leaves a balance. The city could get additional, special state appropriations, especially with Paul Renner, its own representative, serving as House Speaker. But even that won’t be enough, at least according to the consultant. “If we were to get any of those appropriations that we hope we can get through the state, it will help us but it won’t solve any kind of rate adjustment,” he said.
On top of capital costs, there’s additional operating costs and inflation. Those operating costs are at $40 million today. In 10 years, that cost will be $70 million, the consultant says.
Inexplicably absent from the entire analysis: numbers showing how much growth the city is anticipating, and based on whose calculations, what assumptions, what methodology. In other words, the consultant’s analysis is based on a projection of new residents that was never disclosed.
Those projections fluctuate widely, and become less precise the further out they are. In Palm Coast, growth is never linear, so history is not reliable prologue. Palm Coast also has some grim history in that regard: it built some of its water and sewer infrastructure in the run-up to the housing crash of 2006-07, planning to pay the debts on the back of future residents by way of impact fees. The city had assumed that the growth of 2002 to 2005 would continue. Instead, new residents dried up after the crash, leaving existing residents to pick up the tab through higher rates.
This time, existing residents would picking up the tab regardless–and if new residents don’t keep materializing at the current pace, then utility rates would almost certainly have to go further up accordingly, once new plants are built.
But Grau spoke as if it was 2004. “The region continues experiencing strong growth. And that’s a positive from a rates perspective because that growth is going to promote economies of scale. It’s going to be a benefit to the existing ratepayers,” Grau said. But it also eventually constrains capacity. So the city has to build new plants.
Bills are indexed to inflation, so each year rate payers pay more every year regardless. That’s built into the system. But if the city were to assume a 3 percent rate hike each Oct. 1, the utility’s reserve will be exhausted by 2027. “What this tells us is that to fund the near term capital program, we need significantly greater near term rate adjustments,” Grau said. (City consultants and city officials rarely use never use accurate language when they refer to rate hike, preferring the “adjustment” euphemism. Rates have never been “adjusted” downward in the city’s history. An adjustment is a rate increase, and will be referred as such here.)
“In total in the near term we need 18 to 18.5 percent increases to our rate revenue to fund the identified requirements,” Grau said. Those increases are driven due to capital expansion, itself driven by growth. The consultant is proposing two scenarios of rate increases and future debt of $275 million in long-term borrowing starting in 2025. That part of the discussion got especially complicated and at times arcane.
It translates to two basic scenarios that would raise rates equally by 18 percent over the next three years, but with at different periods within the three years. After that, the city would return to inflation indexing.
The typical customer in the city is a single family residential customer paying a water and wastewater bill using 2,500 gallons a month. That typical customer today is billed $71.09 a month for water and sewer. (The typical utility bill is significantly higher because it also includes garbage and stormwater fees, plus any applicable volume usage of water.) The bill would rise to $84.76 by the third year of the rate hikes (or $84.66 under the second scenario).
That brought up what council members found much more attractive in Grau’s proposal, an approach the council appears interested in adopting regardless of the kind of rate increases it is willing to adopt or not: people using less water would see less of a rate increase.
The consultants analyzed consumption trends in the city. Some 64 percent of customers use 3,000 gallons or less. Currently, the city bills the same rate for water and sewer usage up to 5,000 gallons ($5.84 for every 1,000 gallons used). The consultants are proposing to add a new tier to encourage conservation. So the first 2,000 gallons would be billed at one rate: $6.43 per 1,000 gallons. The next 3,000 gallons would be billed at $8.04 per 1,000 gallons.
With that approach, the typical customer using 2,500 gallons a month would see bills increase by 9.1 percent rather than 12 percent the first year.
Alternately–and this is where it got really, if not unnecessarily, arcane:–the consultant is proposing for one time only to impose the next rate hike only to water volume usage, not to base rates. But that could be risky, exposing revenue streams to a less dependable dollar figure. In that scenario, those using 2,000 gallons or less would decline, and those using 2,500 gallons, the bills would stay flat. Most of the other bills would increase less than 6 percent. But that’s all applicable to the first scheduled increase in April 2024, not subsequent increases.
“The vast majority of our bills are issued at the lower usage amounts,” Grau said. In his calculation, “approximately two thirds of bills issued would see an increase of less than 12 and a half percent” in the next year.
“I don’t know anyone who’s getting that type of increase in their paychecks or their social security checks,” Danko said, “and that’s concerning to our population.”
But there was clear approval for the new tiering system. “We worked really hard at trying to look out for that low income user,” Flanagan said, “that user that really does only use one to two to 3,000 gallons a month and to try to effectively hold their bill down better than those folks that are using much more water. And this is also very important to us because it highly promotes water conservation. And we all know, the longer we go and the more we grow, it’s going to get more and more expensive to get deeper for water to go to brackish water to go to treatment levels that are required to treat that type of water.” The city wants especially to discourage irrigation with potable water.
“It was a very smart approach to do two things one add in the tier system, but to also put the raises on consumption rather than on the flat fees,” Pontieri said. But she has concerns about the heart of the matter–the rate increases. Flanagan and the consultant wanted direction as to which way to go. They were directed to draw up more scenarios and numbers.
Pontieri is more interested in raising development impact fees, which are designed to shift the burden of new development’s impact from existing residents to new residents, and to do so beyond the 12.5 percent a year currently permissible by law. In times of emergencies, a local government may exceed that threshold. That approach “is legally defensible,” Pontieri said. “I would be very interested in going that route and seeing what that looks like. Because we need to make sure that the impact of growth is not borne on our current taxpayers, if in fact this capital improvement cost is because of growth.” Pontieri wants those figures calculated before making a decision.
She proposed a model of raising rates by 6 percent next October, with impact fees increasing at least 50 percent also starting in October 2024. She wants to see those models before making any decision. Pontieri wants the increases to coincide with the rate increase on existing customers, the first one potentially going in effect in April 2024–not to be delayed until 2025, as currently projected by the consultant.
So the consultant got more marching orders rather than direction, and a clear sense that while rate increases are inevitable, the size of rate increases proposed today are not.
Jim says
Maybe I missed it but where is the money that’s been collected for each and every house built in Palm Coast since the last expansion of water or sewer support? It would seem that the purpose of those collections is to have money in place to support these needs when they arise?
Also, I’m surprised (maybe not) that the city administration couldn’t figure out our needs based on usage, current percent of capacities and projected growth. Why do we always need a consultant to tell us basic information.
Our tax dollars at work.
Ken says
Total incompetence. Consultants robbing the city.
BLINDSPOTTING says
Thank you once again Danko, and our “BELOVED” Pontieri!
Tina Olive says
Many many people in this city have stated that they don’t want this kind of growth for Palm Coast along with this is the costs involved with growth. It was marketed as a RETIREMENT community, and yet we are out of control on everything including over building on an infrastructure for which it was not intended. Retired people on LIMITED INCOME are going to yet again have to reevaluated their monthly expenses of food, ever rising basic utility costs, insurance, mortgage, just so the city council and others can Spend, Spend, Spend on something that was not intended in the first place. Beyond Ridiculous and definitely uncalled for.
Dan says
I moved here for this little paradise and it looks like i will have to move again to another paradise. You people are forcing us to choose between eating, medicines, or your high fees.
Deborah Coffey says
If the people in Flagler County will kindly stop voting for Republicans we may have a future here. Democrats do know how to plan for one in advance.
Atwp says
Deborah, I agree!
TR says
Deborah, you keep believing that all you want. But from where I sit the Democrats couldn’t plan a birthday party right. Oh wait maybe they could because they have been having one for the last 3 years but the Clown is ruining it. So I guess they can’t plan one right.
The only thing they can plan for the future is to ruin this country entirely.
Deborah Coffey says
Fine, then don’t complain about your house insurance, water bill, car insurance and total cost of living in Florida. Enjoy exactly what YOU voted for.
Daniel Graham says
This is not a partisan issue, the actual planning that has been completed for this area with shovel ready infrastructure that we upkeep is the hot mess no one talking about. Go drive around Town Center, the problem is people are building second income homes here on higher ground than their neighbors.. I could go on
Deborah Coffey says
Sorry, it IS a partisan issue and Palm Coast residents are getting exactly what they voted for. Were any of them here in 2000 when the city was run by Democrats? There was none of this nonsense and incompetence. Decisions were made that actually benefited people!
Duane says
Let growth pay for itself.
Increase the impact fees. What’s the worst that can happen, slow down growth?
Is slowing growth in a rapidly expanding city a bad thing?
Of course not!
It’s one thing to buy into a city with conditions known, it another to add on unexpected expenses.
Joe says
I’m a snowbird and don’t use water most of the year, but I have to pay a $104 a month water bill. I’m outraged that the consultant didn’t recommend higher Tap fees and Pro-rata fees for the developers to pay for their own infrastructure needs instead of putting the cost of growth on the back of all
Utility users.
Wow says
And, as a former snowbird, isn’t it cool that you can’t even vote on these things? Pay the taxes and the utility bills and don’t even have a day in how it’s spent.
Robin says
Danko’s optimism regarding the economy changing if Trump is Re-elected is misplaced.
Inflation doesn’t care who is elected. Neither do pandemics or wars.
The dude says
I disagree.
Wars love when republicans are in office.
jake says
Seriously “dude”, Biden is President and the world is on fire.
T says
Has been read more
CallMeIshmael says
Thank you Councilwoman Pontieri for advocating a review of water and sewer impact fees! Finally, a representative of our city who understands that expanding the tax base through development does not cover the cost of growth.
In an effort to make housing more affordable for newcomers – not to mention more profitable for developers – this city has for far too long placed a disproportionate burden on current residents to pay for growth. Time to balance the scales.
But let’s not stop at these fees. Next, let’s take a good look at those pesky transportation impact fees that developers – and Councilman Klufus – are loathe to admit are too low.
CELIA PUGLIESE says
You sure got that TY right to councilwoman Pointieri in as much as she can, voting for us the residents! We need to get her some help in 2024…
Ben Hogarth says
What is truly comical about the entire situation (aside from the delusions of the elected) is that basic economics has been lost in (political) translation. It’s not merely “growth” (as broad of a classification as that is) that causes the utility overhead to increase and thereby the rates needed to cover costs… it’s the TYPE of growth. Palm Coast is primarily a suburban sprawl with few vertical residential units.
Why does this matter? Any public administrator can and should tell you that the costs of providing services to vertical construction are magnitudes less than the cost of providing the same levels of service to homes and properties across a wide area. This is true for a number of reasons, but the most obvious is the fact that the more spread out (sprawled) your community, the more (under)ground infrastructure you need to lay, operate, and maintain over time. THIS is where the majority of your costs are originating. You can also add to this the energy costs associated with moving water and electricity across a wider range of distribution.
So anytime I see entire communities grandstand against a vertical construction development (such as a high rise condo building or multi-family apartments), I can’t help but laugh at the irony that these people are damning themselves to future higher rates. Meanwhile, the people who would live in the vertical construction residential units, ultimately reduce the per-capita cost of the provision of services. In other words, if Palm Coast were only a population of 1,000 people and there were a community adjacent to it with that same population, but all of whom were in one high-rise building, while Palm Coast was exclusively single-family homes… guess which community would be running with substantially cheaper overhead?
Economics can be counterintuitive. But the science has evidenced time and again what form of community growth is more sustainable (or at all) and how existing cities can appropriately plan for the future. Looking at the leadership in Palm Coast, it’s painfully apparently that the delusion there is any other way is still very much rooted into the culture and rhetoric. So don’t expect any radical political changes anytime soon.
The dude says
Responsible growth also requires the growth of technology and industry to support a strong middle class.
There is none of that here.
BLINDSPOTTING says
Dude: Bravo, short and sweet!
Ben Hogarth says
I’d posit that at this juncture in global society, the ONLY “responsible” growth scheme today is a sustainable one. I recognize that the “American dream” for the longest time was portrayed as white picket fences, small yards, and friendly neighbors and small communities… but that dream is far gone and with it, the resources required to maintain such a society. The reality of our situation (all humans) is that there are billions more persons on earth than we can sustain in perpetuity. At the current rate of resource exhaustion (forgetting for a moment the rate is ever increasing with growing pops), we may be within only a couple decades of total calamity.
The economic strife we are seeing today is not merely attributable to “inflation” – which is but one symptom of a much more insidious and grander problem. All of these events are inexorably linked to a competition of precious metals and strategic resources – which are finite. And as we continue to pollute our waterways and pave a Manhattan’s-worth of land each year (on earth), even the most basic resources will come with exorbitant costs of provision.
To some, these statements may appear like “doom-seeding” but the reality of our situation is that we cannot sustain our civilization at current rates of resource exhaustion. It is functionally impossible to maintain for many more years. What Palm Coast is experiencing with utility rates is but a tiny consequence of poor sustainability planning and a global economy that is becoming bent.
And it brings me no joy to say.
CELIA PUGLIESE says
The reality of our situation is exactly as Pointieri advised to consultant go find out how much the impact fees can be raised instead of overburdening the residents paying for growth! Nothing to do with globalization but instead with the fact that FL is run by developers and their greedy interest and has to stop We may !earn something from this next link as as well a water bill that includes pool abnd irrigation cost half of what we pay here in Phoenix” https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/01/climate/arizona-phoenix-permits-housing-water.html
Dennis C Rathsam says
Fellow seniors, this is thier master plan. They dont want the so called retirement community, they want rich folks here now, they know we are on fixed income yet they twist the knife in our back year after year. I think we should lawyer up and fight this asault on our retirement dream.
The dude says
You and jimbo just keep doing what you’re doing.
It’s working out great.
Mike says
I think the city council members that are tied in with the developers should also pay!
JimboXYZ says
Vote out the local growth people & we can ride out Biden in 2024 and get rid of that one too. Klufas can’t be elected to the County Council. Remember he was a champion for the Holland Splash Pad incompetence that’s pissed away $ 8+ million (excluding any litigation costs). When the vote comes up, tell him to charge his EV/Tesla up and see how far away from Palm Coast & Flagler County a single charge will get him.
Alfin has to find another job as well. The one’s that keep doing this to the rest of us have gotta go. Imagine trying to do this growth thing in the middle of Biden Inflation. The Federal Government money ran out a long time ago. Instead FCSO gets funded for hate crimes ? The problem is the open border crisis, tens of thousands being airlifted and dropped in areas where the infrastructure was strained before they were Biden-ed into FL, perhaps even making their way to Flagler County. Jacksonville seems to be the first leg of that Biden invasion.
Bear with me on this, you simply can’t drop 100’s of thousands into an infrastructure that is strained, people that haven’t paid a penny into the infrastructure and expect the rest of the population to eat that cost of uncontrolled growth that was never planned for. Biggest mistake was voting Biden-Harris in in the 1st place, 82 million voters des3erve this the other 74 million are victims of stupidity. We all know how Ron DeSantis is painted as Hitler by some (those individuals who know who they are). DeSantis would be a million times better than Biden running this nation & Gavin Newsom as well. Retirees didn’t cut this bargain for their working career years, now Biden is screwing them at every turn. If one has any common sense at all, Vote Biden OUT ! Your life & retirement depends upon it. Just like the others that can’t say NO, hose folks gotta go find another hobby just the same, because City & County Councilpersons is a job they aren’t qualified to do.
https://www.ccbjax.org/post/u-s-to-accept-100-000-ukrainian-refugees-starting-this-summer
The dude says
Keep electing the same Republican clowns, keep getting the same GQP circus.
Maybe you can make it up in volume….
JustMe says
Really? Dem cities all are looking food to you? Then move to Chicago, L.A., Baltimore… I dare you!
Atwp says
JimboXYZ Desantis will not have a chance to run the country. He proves every day he can’t run the state. Running the country is completely out of his ability. Wake up and face reality.
Dave says
No darn President regardless of party cares what goes on within the Palm Coast city council or how much our water bills could be. People need to get their head out of the clouds and understand to fight this, stop believing a President gives a crap about your water bills, or how growth is impacting the older crowd in Palm Coast. It all falls on whom we elect locally.
Interested Observer says
Going back in Palm Coast history to the mid 2000’s, we had exorbitant money/funds wasted on the following:
1. Netts’ red light cameras, which were ultimately deemed unconstitutional (if I remember correctly). The money spent on that fiasco could have been placed into a separate budget account called, “Extremely Necessary Future Capital Expenditures Including Roads and Infrastructure Related to Roads, Water Utilities Improvement” etc. But Netts wanted a new city hall building even after the red light camera fiasco, even ‘tho the residents of the City of Palm Coast voted against it. Another awful mayor.
2. Holland’s boondoggle called “Holland Park”. How many millions was sunk into that? All that money could have been placed into the above-noted “Future Extremely Necessary Capital Expenditures”. Another awful mayor. Another one with just a high school education.
3. Hollands “Splash Pad”. How many more millions spent on this? plus the litigation. Only to tear it all out. All the millions spent on that could have gone into the above-noted future capital expenditures account.
4. Holland’s and Alfin’s pickle ball court. Very unnecessary. How many millions being sunk into the pickle ball court? How many people will actually use that facility?
If you total the above 4 mayoral fiascos, it would probably far exceed what’s needed for resurfacing the roads as well as going towards improving water utilities.
Yet, now “THEY” are going to shake the citizens down again because “THEY” didn’t plan and/or spend wisely.
AGAIN, in 2024, we need to be careful who we’re voting into decision-making positions . . . not ideology.
We can’t keep making the same mistakes.
CELIA PUGLIESE says
Raising our fees to pay for growth? Thank you councilwoman Pointieri for opposing it and look instead to raise impact fees! I agree with Interested Observer we need to be careful in 2024. We need Ray Steven District 3 in our council…as Pointieri needs help to serve us better! He is not a realtor he is not in any city or county planning board or committee, he was never a developers lobbyist but YES he was all his life in law enforcement management and traffic as Administrative Lieutenant his duties and responsibilities included, Personnel Management, Public Information, IT Service Management, Special Events Planning, Development and Implementation of Traffic Facilitation plans and Problem Intersection Assessment. He is committed to the notion that raising taxes to meet expenditures should be the last resort and not the first option. He believes we should put the brakes on the uncontrolled development taking place across Palm Coast. Such development is placing an additional burden on our infrastructure. Specifically, roads, highways, water systems and sewerage. I think any future development should be in accordance with what our school system and overall infrastructure can sustain.Ray Stevens is exactly what we need. Please Lets get informed and vote accordingly in 2024. :https://www.voterfocus.com/CampaignFinance/candidate_pr.php?el=37&c=flagler
BLINDSPOTTING says
Celia Pugliese: Yes I did hear about Ray Stevens running for a city counsel seat,
I believe that Mr. Stevens is well suited for the job, he has lived in Palm Coast
for over 20 years and is well aware of its past and existing problems, he has
no ties to developers, realtors or any other special interest groups and is a
down to earth well rounded solid citizen and homeowner unlike some newbies
or others who have political and or business attachments with
the city with an eye on personal advancement for a future city seat.
Laurel says
Now, how many times have I written here that growth does not reduce, or flatten out, taxes and fees for the current residents? More than once. So, here you go. You are starting to get the taste. You keep getting told otherwise, right?
“The city wants especially to discourage irrigation with potable water.” And just how is non-potable going to get to your yards?
Palm Coast charges 25% more for water in the Hammock than in the city. There are people here who cannot afford to grocery shop here, and go over the bridge away from their neighborhoods to shop. But, gentrification works for realtors.
What really ticks me off is, for around 30 years now, we have had to practice watering our yards only on certain days, and certain hours, to conserve water. We are to have rain gauges, too. Why? “Westward Ho!”? Again, we tighten our behaviors while realtors fill their pockets. As it is, our modern appliances conserve much more water than they used to. We have toilets that flush with 1.2 gallons, and do it surprisingly well. Our washers conserve more. Our dishwashers conserve more. Our faucets have strainers that produce less. Our hoses have automatic shutoff valves.
What bunk.
CELIA PUGLIESE says
Our councilwoman Pointieri as usual working on behalf of us all residents, making the right inquisitive questions and getting answers to guide staff to move into the right direction as she requested from consultant and staff today to come back with how much we can raise the impact fees to developers, so we current users do not have to fund growth! So Danko as well backed her up and then Highter and Flukas. Just follow the leader! Thank you Theresa! Takes a lot of courage and honesty to do what you do for us! The head of our utility Mr. Flanagan is right to raise the red flags that our utilities are at full capacity due to growth! So his advise is we better prepare for what maybe coming as funding needed. Not his fault that under Netts- Landon too many millions bonded out from our utility were used for the south widening of of Old Kings road by Town Center to pay for the incoming Walmart utility infrastructure that never materialized and we got stuck with paying the bills that benefitted some stake holders. Kinda like the county have us still paying for Bobby Ginn’s oversized hangar and plush offices after he walked away from his at least 20 years contract.
Regarding the $415,000 of our impact fees to buy the land needed for the expansion out west on vacant lands subsidized by the governor’s 25 millions grant…I questioned why using our impact fees so bad needed for our roads affected by growth? Like Florida Park Drive to endure soon 200 more cars an hour adding to the current 9000 cars a day, thanks to the new wawa to open in FPD, lobbied by the City Community (disastrous) Development in the wrong location! Like I asked council today why are you doing this to us all? Pointieri’s reaction was to ask for a majority consensus to include FPD into the incoming traffic safety workshop to bring back the median plans she saw on video proposed by past council before her tenure. The plans that we taxpayers paid $163,000 hard earned taxes used by engineering Carl Cote for the design and Lassiter traffic study for both calming traffic islands In FPD and then trashed by Council and Mayor that replaced Holland? Lots of funds wasted? No way. Thank you again Theresa Pointieri! We need more like you in 2024 to help the residents goals preserving their safety, health, quality of life and value of our homes!
TR says
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the impact fee for every house and apartment built in PC suppose to be collected by the city before the builder/developer breaks ground to cover the cost for this? It’s gone beyond ridiculous with the city council to keep pushing higher costs onto the residence. I can’t wait to elect these morons out of office. Not that the next group will be any better. because living here since 1989 and seeing every city council get worse than the one before is an understatement. The next (as previous councils) will see what the previous council got away with and they will think, Alfin and his group did it so why can’t we? I am beyond frustrated and don’t know how to stop the council from approving any more developers from building without doing something about the infrastructure.
TREEMAN says
Next they will use the “ITT Plan” on us! The “ITT Plan” is BULLSHIT( building a retirement community in a PINE SWAMP )! Vote all the Realtors OUT of office(including Dumoko)!!
Fed up says
And HOW MUCH did they pay the consultant? And WHY? That money could have been used towards this. If this is to sustain PC with the influx of new subdivisions, “affordable housing”, etc then how about denying those plans. Only be allowed to be in pre-existing neighborhoods. Slow down the growth. PC was a great little town when I moved here in 2000. City council and cohorts trying to run this like little NY. All existing residents need to ban together and threaten to sell and move. DISGUSTED
Johnman says
To bad we voted to become a city….
As ITT withdrew from Palm Coast, the process of incorporation began, and on September 21, 1999, one week after Hurricane Floyd postponed the vote, 65.6 percent of the nearly 12,000 voters casting ballots opted to turn the unincorporated population center of Flagler County into a city
Conclusion of the Pros and Cons of Unincorporated Towns
Living in an unincorporated town can give you some extra privacy, more real estate flexibility, and an opportunity to live life in a way that is important to you. These benefits come at the expense of a slower response time if you need emergency help and a lack of control over what your neighbors might decide to do.
If you are in a small town, then the likelihood that someone might decide to start a pig farm next to you is not high – but it could still be possible. That is why you should check the deed very carefully before finalizing a transaction.
The pros and cons of unincorporated towns allow you to balance freedom of living while still being part of a community. When you add in the lower costs that are typically found in this arrangement, it is easy to see why this option is quite popular in the United States and Canada.
CELIA PUGLIESE says
OMG we were much worst under the county boot and that is why we incorporated: Look at the county keep goofing today!: https://flaglerlive.com/settlement-flagler-county-captains/?unapproved=3439821&moderation-hash=2ccef28c92fa5c6377cbee1cabdf8b4e#comment-3439821&gsc.tab=0
Me says
The City of PC once again is spending taxpayers money hiring consultants. Fire the council that needs consultants to figure out what PC needs or doesn’t need.
Taxpayers are tired of money being thrown out the window because they don’t know how to govern.
CELIA PUGLIESE says
I totally agree with you regarding the consultants…but the root of that problem are those city administrators that tell the council they need the consultants and demand from council and mayor, that are not the professionals on the field as the administrators are, to approve the consultants hiring. So what is council and Mayor to do? At least Pointieri is making very inquisitive questioning at least to them and the consultants directing them like she just did with the rate increase, to go and find out how much can be increased to the impact fees instead other than having the current users pay for it! Then we need a Ray Stevens in the council in 2024 with the same determination!
Laurel says
Me: It is extremely common for municipalities, all over, to hire consultants. Commissioners are not experts in all areas, so it is necessary to hear from them. I am not convinced that they listen, though.
Skibum says
There is no earthly reason why existing homeowners should foot the bill through exorbitant water rate increases to support these developers who are getting rich building all of the residential developments in the city. If anything, this should be sounding alarm bells across city hall that Palm Coast is currently not addressing the need to have the developers pay a sufficient amount to account for the increase in utility costs. Otherwise, existing property owners should be having a much larger say regarding the amount of new construction that is going on all over Palm Coast. I don’t believe ANYONE would be in favor of unabated growth that not only comes with a decreased quality of life, but also more costly utility rates for those who already live here. If developers are not willing to pay increased amounts that should be built in to the cost of the homes they are building, then the city should not allow the developments to be built. I find it not only odd, but more a sign of governmental malpractice, that the city is just now learning from a consultant, after thousands and thousands of homes in new developments have already been built by developers who have taken their money and run, that the cost of necessary water and other utilities for all of these new homes is not being factored in and will instead be borne by people who already live here. It is absolutely astounding and those in city government should be embarrassed and massaging that big black eye they gave themselves.
Fed up says
I totally agree. I am wondering how much of the land sold to developers was owned by Alfin and who else profited from the sale.
Endless dark money says
America= for the corporations by the corporations. The line must go up or the house of cards will collapse. Inflation is high but corporate profits are even higher.
Mischa Gee says
When the city purchased our utilities (water and sewer) they claimed it would keep the costs low. How’s that working out for us, not at all?!
The term IMPACT FEE should be self explanatory, but not in Palm Coast. Run away growth without increasing Impact Fees, which are meant to account for how that growth will impact the cost of providing our utilities – building new water purification and sewerage processing facilities, maintaining roads, bridges, and storm sewers, building new schools, and increasing fire, ambulance and police personel and buildings, is completely irresponsible.
Foisting those costs onto existing taxpayers show how little thought has gone into what the true cost of expansion and growth actually is. Raising impact fees might even slow growth a bit, which would give our city time to make better, wiser decisions on just where and how much growth we really want to happen.
As far as high rise buildings, yes there will be less pipes to provide the water to that property and remove the waste, but more water will be needed per building and maybe they should have to have pay for their own sewerage plants to process all that additional waste.
Also, the new pickle ball facility will probably charge a membership fee, which for many of us, will prevent our ever using this facility. It really isn’t for the public, if because of not being fully funded before being built, you can’t freely use it.
True planning should think far into the future, and how what we do now will effect at least the next seven generations. Haste makes waste.
Dry Pipe tax says
I am a long term Palm Coast resident who frequently works out of state. For several months I use not one drop of water and no trash yet I and other home owners have to pay $105 per month I tried to get service suspended and they said that’s the base rate and it cannot be suspended. Trying to save water does not impact your water bill.So that in essence equates to a $1200 tax rate forced upon residents of Palm Coast. In cooler months my water bill is now higher than my light bill. I did research and found out that other municipals in Flagler also do the same. Flagler beach has a $100 base tax…with no supposed expansion planned. Palm Coast and other are lying to residents. Other much larger cities like Jacksonville does not have these costs attached to their water bills and pay maybe $50 per month. I am independent, for thos talking about Democrats will save the day….all Democrats want is to initiative a Palm coast pride parade and ruin our schools for kids…no way. All Republicans want to do is lie and say we won’t raise taxes, mind you the current Mayor is Republican so this happened on their watch. Sure they did not raise taxes just added costs to our water bill in a very shady way without resident input. This started in 2018 when they voted for a 20% increase in water bill for expansion that no body wants. Time to get rid of them all and get some independent thinkers to run Palm Coast and Flagler county…..in meantime we should be looking at the mondex where a can drill a well and get free water and more land.