[Putt4Dough]

Just to get facts straight, the SWFWMD declared a phase III water shortage and asked us to limit irrigation of lawns to 1 day per week.

The 10% surcharge on water use, started on June 5 and was mandated the local utilities,

In The Villages, that would be Village Center Service Area, Little Sumter Service Area, the North Sumter County Utility Dependent District, Sumter Water Conservation Authority, and Fenney Water Conservation Authority. I wonder who owns these utilities?

Obviously, these people have historical rainfall data, and also have our monthly water bill and usage data.

Everybody knows the rain starts coming usually in June, and continues through the summer months.

So the Villages water utilities know rain averages, they know that usage goes way down in the summer because that's when it rains, and they put a 10% surcharge on our bills "to incentivize conservation"

I turned off my sprinklers 2 weeks ago and they will stay off as long as it rains every few days. We don't need a 10% surcharge at this time of year and they know this, it's just a grab for more money.

[keithwand]

Sure looks that way.

[Taltarzac725]

That's very interesting.

[JourneyOfLife]

More proof!

Few people that move to FL actually did their homework.

[dewilson58]

Even if you don't cut back on your water usage, what is the surcharge going to cost you????........ $20???

Not much of a money grab.

[kstew43]

Originally Posted by dewilson58

Even if you don't cut back on your water usage, what is the surcharge going to cost you????........ $20???

Not much of a money grab.

$20 times 85,000 homes........then it adds up

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by kstew43

$20 times 85,000 homes........then it adds up

Yep, but it's less than 10% to the collectors. Not much of a grab.

[JoMar]

You do know that when usage goes down revenue goes down. How do they make that back? I suspect the company you worked for had a strategy to recover lost revenue, lay off people, increase prices, change quality or any other number of options. But if you were able to keep your job then it was probably ok and wasn't considered a money grab. We do have different perspectives depending on what side of the table we sit on.....and the older we get the more critical of others success we become.

[perrjojo]

Isn't suggesting that the surcharge is a cynical money grab being cynical!

[Chatbrat]

One ?, how does $$, produce water

[Putt4Dough]

Originally Posted by JoMar

You do know that when usage goes down revenue goes down. How do they make that back? I suspect the company you worked for had a strategy to recover lost revenue, lay off people, increase prices, change quality or any other number of options. But if you were able to keep your job then it was probably ok and wasn't considered a money grab. We do have different perspectives depending on what side of the table we sit on.....and the older we get the more critical of others success we become.

Big difference here. If Crest raises their prices 10% I can switch to Colgate. These water utilities are monopolies, I can't switch to another provider.

It's pretty obvious their excuse for a 10% surcharge "to incentivize conservation" is BS because they already know usage goes way down in June every year.

[kfierle]

The following is a column that appeared in The Villages Daily Sun on June 15, 2017, section C, page 6:

by Trey Arnett
Guest Columnist

"A nice rain is a wonderful thing, especially when we're coming out of a severe dry season. Driven by the unusually dry conditions that have been experienced throughout this part of the state over more that the past year, the Southwest Florida Water Management District implemented a Phase 1 Water Shortage Order because of declining environmental indicators such as rainfall, river flows, and groundwater levels.

A water shortage order is not tied to withdrawals, and the order is designed to be temporary and to be removed as soon as environmental indicators improve. In late May, SWFWMD raised the level of the order to a Phase 3, effective June 5, because conditions were more severe. Rainfall up to that point in the Florida dry season was the lowest in more than 100 years, and the rainfall projections were not favorable.

So why does the SWFWMD water shortage order impact Villages residents? When the water use permits were acquired in 2007 to supply the water needs for our community down to State Road 44, two of the permit requirements involved development of a water conserving rate structure and a plan to help endure that the environment was protected. Through a cooperative process with SWFWMD, the water rates, including an environmental protection surcharge were developed and approved.

The primary purpose of the requirements from SWFWMD was to encourage water conservation. The Villages has developed one of the most innovative water supply systems in the state, with major infrastructure investment in alternative water supply, but it was recognized that a significant component that couldn't be directly controlled was customers' water use. SWFWMD felt it was critical to have significant conservation encouragements build into the water use rates. Where the surcharge has been implemented, it only impacts water use rates, and applies to all customers--residential, commercial and golf.

The additional revenues collected during the temporary period that the environmental protection surcharge is in effect are collected by the utility company and are part of the general revenues of the utility. While a water shortage order is in effect, there are additional requirements on the utility for reporting, record keeping, conservation, etc. The funds collected help address those additional operating costs.

If we all keep our rain dances going, perhaps the rainy season will be better that predicted and the temporary order will be able to be rescinded and the surcharges removed before the currently scheduled ending on Aug. 1. SWFWMD and our utility companies would like to see the order rescinded as soon as possible, because it means environmental conditions have improved. With the recent rainfall, we're off to a good start.

For more information about water conservation, the SWFWMD order and other water-related questions, refer to the district website at districtgov.org or thevillageswaterwisdom.com."

[Mleeja]

I receive my water bill Friday. My water usage for the period was almost the same as the previous month. The charge was within a couple of dollars. This tells me two things. (1) The 10% surcharge was not applied. (2) The meters were not read. The usage had to be an estimate. I turned my sprinkler system off June 1st. There should have been a significant reduction in usage.

[Putt4Dough]

Originally Posted by Mleeja

I receive my water bill Friday. My water usage for the period was almost the same as the previous month. The charge was within a couple of dollars. This tells me two things. (1) The 10% surcharge was not applied. (2) The meters were not read. The usage had to be an estimate. I turned my sprinkler system off June 1st. There should have been a significant reduction in usage.

Very interesting, we should all take a close look at our water bills.

[vintageogauge]

our bill was for usage up to 6/01/17