A rate increase request for the Water Management Company on St. George Island did not go the way the company hoped.
The company was seeking a rate increase of nearly 93 percent that it said was needed to purchase new equipment and to keep the company from operating at a loss.
If the increase had been approved a residential customer on St. George Island using 5000 gallons of water a month would have seen his monthly bill go from about 44 dollars a month to 73 dollars a month.
Instead, the Florida Public Service Commission approved a much smaller increase of about 1 percent to help cover legal expenses for the company and ordered that Water Management return the money it has raised in an 8.3 percent interim rate increase which took effect in August.
That money will be returned to the company’s 1800 customers as a credit on future bills.
The Public Service Commission has also agreed to begin an immediate cash flow audit of the water company because of questions the group has about 1.2 million dollars that has been advanced to other companies owned by Water management owner Gene Brown.
The water company argued that the advances are justified because Mr. Brown has been defraying the expenses of the water company through personal loans taken for the utility’s benefit.
It is possible that the company could be approved for a rate increase in the future to help cover the costs of replacing the ground water storage tank and relocating a portion of the water main but the Public Service Commission says it cannot make a ruling on that issue until Water Management provides more detailed information on the true costs of those projects.
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