The City Council gave final approval to a state-mandated ordinance that would allow water-saving households to pay lower usage rates while raising rates for households that use large amounts of water.
BY LAURA MORALES
llmorales@MiamiHerald.com
As concerns about meeting the water needs of Florida's current and future populations grow, the state is ordering local governments to encourage water conservation.
Given that directive, Homestead's council agreed to change the city's water rates so that households will pay less for their first few thousand gallons but more if they use a lot.
According to Julio Brea, director of engineering and environmental services, city residents were paying a monthly flat rate of $1.11 per 1,000 gallons.
Under the new rate schedule, homes that stay at or below 3,000 gallons a month would see their rates drop to $.80 per thousand gallons. Households using between 3,000 and 9,000 gallons will keep the $1.11 rate.
If monthly consumption exceeds 9,000 gallons, the rate goes up to $1.30, and if a household's water use tops 14,000 gallons, the rate will jump to $1.75
City Manager Sergio Purriños told the meeting's audience that the city wants to encourage folks to save water while giving them a ``cushion to give the residents enough usage before they start having to spend more.''
Brea said that about 85 percent of households in the city would be paying the same or less with the new rate schedule.
The new tiered rate schedule is mandated by a December agreement between Homestead and the South Florida Water Management District. It requires the city to implement water-conservation measures and give residents incentives to reduce their consumption of water.
About two months ago, the council voted in favor of changing the city's building code to require low-water-volume plumbing fixtures in all future residential and commercial buildings.
Council members also voted to create a program offering residents financial incentives, such as rebates, to replace older, higher-consumption fixtures, such as showerheads and toilets, with new ones that use less water.
The ordinance went into effect as soon as it was passed. Brea said households that use less than 3,000 gallons of water a month would see savings ``immediately. As soon as we read the meter that reading would be applied that very month.''
Some residents were pleased with the measure.
Alice Clark pointed out the 40th anniversary of Earth Day as ``perfect timing to be thinking about water conservation.''
She suggested that the city begin to include the actual monthly number of gallons used, rather than a code, for the month on residents' water bills. ``It would be better in terms of education to let people know what their consumption is,'' she said.
Others weren't too keen on the new rate schedule.
``To me this all sounds like a big expansion with more rates somewhere down the road,'' said resident Sal Nicotra, adding that he feels it's a governmental intrusion into people's lives. ``This is a large expansion that we do not need,'' he said.
Purriños said the ordinance would not affect Homestead's commercial water customers.
Service charges levied by the city, which are based in part on water meter size, will not be affected either, for residential or commercial ratepayers.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/23/1595702/homesteads-new-ordinance-rewards.html#ixzz0mEEPZZND
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