County looks at buying utilities (Citrus County)
County looks at buying utilities By Terry Witt
Acting on their lawyer’s advice, Citrus County commissioners hired two consultants on Tuesday to examine whether the county should purchase 11 local utilities from the Florida Governmental Utility Authority.
The board voted unanimously to hire the Tallahassee law firm of Rose, Sundstrom & Bentley as the lead consultant on a team that will look at the pros and cons of the purchase and whether it could impact customer bills.
County Attorney Robert Battista recommended the company for the $50,000 first phase of the study, saying the firm has a long history of handling utility purchases and could give commissioners the data and recommendations they need to make an informed decision on a complex transaction.
Battista also recommended hiring Burton & Associates, a rate consultant, to study the impact on utility rates. The rate consultant will work closely with Rose, Sundstrom & Bentley. The 11 utilities, once owned by Florida Water Services Inc., have varying rates for water and sewer services.
FGUA currently owns the water and sewer systems in Sugarmill Woods, Pine Ridge and Citrus Springs and eight other Citrus County communities, but it has been criticized for not being accountable to its customers or county government.The government utility group was heavily criticized earlier this year when it announced plans to impose property assessments in Pine Ridge and Citrus Springs to pay for line extensions. The Pine Ridge portion of the proposal was later eliminated.
However, customers complained they had no one to whom they could appeal for help since elected officials do not control the organization. The FGUA initially said the county had no power to stop the assessments, but later relented when commissioners insisted their interlocal agreement with FGUA gave them the power to regulate rates.
The question of whether the assessments are a rate has never been settled, but FGUA is allowing the Citrus County Water and Wastewater Authority to review the assessments planned for Citrus Springs. FGUA has been granted interim authority to impose the assessments until a final decision is rendered by the WWA in November.
FGUA Systems Manager Robert Sheets told commissioners at Tuesday’s meeting that FGUA wants to form a Citrus County citizen utility advisory board to improve accountability. He said the board would meet monthly with FGUA.
Sheets said Sugarmill Woods, Pine Ridge and Citrus Springs, which have 70 percent of the customer base, would each have two members on the board. Two at-large members from other communities served by FGUA would serve on the board.However, Commission Chairwoman Vicki Phillips said FGUA had lost its accountability, and she felt it was prudent to begin looking a whether the 11 systems should come under county ownership. Sheets said FGUA considers itself a partner with the county and will cooperate with the study.In other business:n Public Safety Director Charles Poliseno reported the addition of paid firefighters has reduced response times.
He said the time it takes for fire trucks to reach the street after the call is received (chute time) has been reduced from a previous average of 6 minutes 13 seconds to 1 minute 6 seconds for career firefighters.Poliseno said the actual response time — the time it takes to reach the scene of a fire — was previously 11 minutes 17 seconds, but he said career firefighters are responding within 7 minutes.
However, Poliseno said volunteer firefighters continue to be an extremely important part of the fire-rescue service, and efforts have been stepped up to recruit more volunteers. The board voted 3-2 in assent of the concept of recruiting physicians with lower impact fees. The board instructed staff to develop the criteria the county would use to reduce impact fees for physician recruitment. A portion of the impact fees would be paid using occupational license revenue.
Phillips and Commissioner Joyce Valentino voted against the measure, saying they didn’t think the county should give impact fee breaks to doctors when no other taxpayers in the county would be entitled to a similar reduction.
However, the chief executive officers of Citrus Memorial Hospital and Seven Rivers Regional Medical Center said the federal government lists Citrus County as being “underserved” when it comes to physicians.
They said the county has a 27-doctor deficit overall. Citing one statistic, they said the county has a need for three additional pediatricians.
Acting on their lawyer’s advice, Citrus County commissioners hired two consultants on Tuesday to examine whether the county should purchase 11 local utilities from the Florida Governmental Utility Authority.
The board voted unanimously to hire the Tallahassee law firm of Rose, Sundstrom & Bentley as the lead consultant on a team that will look at the pros and cons of the purchase and whether it could impact customer bills.
County Attorney Robert Battista recommended the company for the $50,000 first phase of the study, saying the firm has a long history of handling utility purchases and could give commissioners the data and recommendations they need to make an informed decision on a complex transaction.
Battista also recommended hiring Burton & Associates, a rate consultant, to study the impact on utility rates. The rate consultant will work closely with Rose, Sundstrom & Bentley. The 11 utilities, once owned by Florida Water Services Inc., have varying rates for water and sewer services.
FGUA currently owns the water and sewer systems in Sugarmill Woods, Pine Ridge and Citrus Springs and eight other Citrus County communities, but it has been criticized for not being accountable to its customers or county government.The government utility group was heavily criticized earlier this year when it announced plans to impose property assessments in Pine Ridge and Citrus Springs to pay for line extensions. The Pine Ridge portion of the proposal was later eliminated.
However, customers complained they had no one to whom they could appeal for help since elected officials do not control the organization. The FGUA initially said the county had no power to stop the assessments, but later relented when commissioners insisted their interlocal agreement with FGUA gave them the power to regulate rates.
The question of whether the assessments are a rate has never been settled, but FGUA is allowing the Citrus County Water and Wastewater Authority to review the assessments planned for Citrus Springs. FGUA has been granted interim authority to impose the assessments until a final decision is rendered by the WWA in November.
FGUA Systems Manager Robert Sheets told commissioners at Tuesday’s meeting that FGUA wants to form a Citrus County citizen utility advisory board to improve accountability. He said the board would meet monthly with FGUA.
Sheets said Sugarmill Woods, Pine Ridge and Citrus Springs, which have 70 percent of the customer base, would each have two members on the board. Two at-large members from other communities served by FGUA would serve on the board.However, Commission Chairwoman Vicki Phillips said FGUA had lost its accountability, and she felt it was prudent to begin looking a whether the 11 systems should come under county ownership. Sheets said FGUA considers itself a partner with the county and will cooperate with the study.In other business:n Public Safety Director Charles Poliseno reported the addition of paid firefighters has reduced response times.
He said the time it takes for fire trucks to reach the street after the call is received (chute time) has been reduced from a previous average of 6 minutes 13 seconds to 1 minute 6 seconds for career firefighters.Poliseno said the actual response time — the time it takes to reach the scene of a fire — was previously 11 minutes 17 seconds, but he said career firefighters are responding within 7 minutes.
However, Poliseno said volunteer firefighters continue to be an extremely important part of the fire-rescue service, and efforts have been stepped up to recruit more volunteers. The board voted 3-2 in assent of the concept of recruiting physicians with lower impact fees. The board instructed staff to develop the criteria the county would use to reduce impact fees for physician recruitment. A portion of the impact fees would be paid using occupational license revenue.
Phillips and Commissioner Joyce Valentino voted against the measure, saying they didn’t think the county should give impact fee breaks to doctors when no other taxpayers in the county would be entitled to a similar reduction.
However, the chief executive officers of Citrus Memorial Hospital and Seven Rivers Regional Medical Center said the federal government lists Citrus County as being “underserved” when it comes to physicians.
They said the county has a 27-doctor deficit overall. Citing one statistic, they said the county has a need for three additional pediatricians.
posted by Editor Facts & Myths @ 12:21 AM
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