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Starting next month, fees for city of Lakeland water utilities service will rise $3.44 per month for the typical residential customer who lives inside city limits, under new prices approved unanimously by the Lakeland City Commission on Monday.
That increase would be for a “typical” homeowner who has a has a 5/8” to 3/4″ meter and uses about 8,000 gallons of water per month, according to Director of Water Utilities David Bayhan.
What’s the new total? That “typical” customer who lives inside city limits currently pays a combined $87.99 monthly for water and wastewater service. The new rate will be $91.43.
For a typical Lakeland utilities customer who live outside city limits, the combined fee goes from $112.78 to $115.82.
A breakdown of a customer’s water and wastewater fees can be found on the second page of the monthly Lakeland Utilities bill, where water charges are broken down on the right-hand side of the page and the wastewater charge is included under “Other Services.”
‘Costs are up’: Rates are adjusted yearly to ensure the city’s water and sewer department remains self-sufficient, according to the fee resolution approved by commissioners, and “Costs are up,” Bayhan told commissioners when they previewed the new rate schedule on Friday.
Check a detailed breakdown of all the new rates.
The current rate structure is based on recommendations from Raftelis Financial Consultants Inc. of Maitland, who was hired to review Lakeland’s rates and needs in 2020 and rates have been updated yearly since then.
Bayhan explained there are different rates for different types of customers: residential, commercial and irrigation. Those customers use different sized pipes and also different amounts of water. There are also different rates for customers within the city limits and those outside the city line.
The city adopts rates in three-year increments, but each year it revisits the tentatively approved rate to ensure that it’s suitable. Rates can be adjusted up or down.
Residents of unincorporated Polk County who are on the county utility system are also seeing fees increase for water and wastewater starting Oct. 1. Bills will go up 6% in each of the next five years. That translates to a $7-a-month increase for the average customer this year, county officials say.
Lakeland residents are on the lower end of water payments in the state, city officials claim, saying the typical Clearwater customer pays nearly $180 a month while an Auburndale resident pays just above $60 a month.
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