Polk County utilities and waste collection fees will increase starting Oct. 1

Polk customers to pay more for waste, utilities

Kylie Jones reports

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. - In just two weeks, Polk County Utilities customers can expect to pay more for waste collection and utilities.

County officials say the increases are partly* because of the county's fast-growing population.

Polk County Utilities water and sewer rates will increase by six percent starting on Oct. 1 and will increase by 6% every year through 2028.

"A typical bill is 6,000 gallons a day of water usage," said Tamara Richardson, the county's utilities director. "That shows a customer's bill going up about $7 a month for that first month and that's going to happen every year for five years."

The water rates and reclaim rates haven't been increased for about ten years, but county officials say they have to do it now because they can't continue pumping more from the Upper Floridian Aquifer in 2025.

"We've been able to run our system based on the fees that we were collecting very successfully, but again, the new alternative water supply projects, those bills are going to be due in the next five years, so that's what's different," said Richardson.

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Also, starting on Oct. 1, garbage collection and disposal fees will jump by 63% in what will be the first of five years of hikes.

The current annual rate is $206 which will jump to an annual rate of $337.

Polk County Commissioner Bill Braswell says they should've been raising rates incrementally the last few years, but they haven't been doing that and costs have gone up.

"Fuel has gone up. Wages have gone up and that's not due to growth. That's just due to inflation and everything else," said Braswell. "The fact we passed $15 minimum wage. I mean, that hit this county pretty good so those are the reasons."

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The bottom line, Braswell said, is that everything is getting more expensive.

County commissioners have a final budget meeting on Sept. 16 where they're expected to approve the new garbage collection and disposal fees increase.

The millage rate is expected to be reduced by 1%. However, homeowners may still see a slight increase in property taxes because of the increase in assessed value of their homes.

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