Pebble Creek Residents Could Become County Utilities Customers

By Matt Wiley

After their existing provider proposed serious rate hikes to customers in Pebble Creek last year, Hillsborough County is making moves to take over water utility services in New Tampa’s oldest community.

During the June 18 Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) meeting, the commissioners voted to approve a county-determined, more acceptable service rate increase from the Pluris Pebble Creek Water and Wastewater System and to immediately enter into “good-faith” negotiations to acquire the Dallas-based, private utility service.

“The decision was made for the county to move forward with acquiring the utility service in Pebble Creek,” says Dist. 2 Commissioner Victor Crist. “(Pluris) has to agree to sell, so we have to negotiate a value (for the sale). If (Pluris) doesn’t want to sell, it’s a lengthy legal process to take over the service.”

Crist says that, thus far, Pluris hasn’t indicated whether or not the utility company would sell.

Pluris’ proposed hike would have raised the base charge per household for water per month from $16.54 to $19.80 and the cost per 1,000 gallons from $2.55 to $5.16 (up to the first 9,000 gallons, with an additional charge for every additional 1,000 gallons). The base charge for wastewater also would have been raised from $27.55 to $37.10 per residence.

However, that substantial hike had to first be approved by the county, which it was not. But, since residents were first alerted of the hike, Pluris has been charging an “interim rate” for water and wastewater service, which still raised the base charge per household per month to $18.98 and the cost per 1,000 gallons to $4.51. Wastewater was raised to $34.71.

Before the county would approve such a substantial hike, Pluris had to prove that it was justified and county staff had to have a chance to “crunch the numbers.” Not surprisingly, the proposed hike was found to be unjustified and the county countered with recommended rates of its own, which are about the same, if not only a slight increase from the interim rates.

Pebble Creek Homeowner’s Association (HOA) president Dan Logan says that the decision caught him — and the more than 50 residents who made the bus trip to the county courthouse in downtown Tampa for the public hearing — by surprise.

“We had the opportunity to have our voices heard about why the Pluris rate hike was unjustified,” Logan says. “This is big news for Pebble Creek.”

The rate-increase drama began back in January 2013, when the residents of Pebble Creek’s more than 1,500 homes were notified that they would be experiencing a significant water rate increase, the first of its kind since Pluris bought out Pebble Creek Utilities in 2009, Logan explains.

Logan adds that residents had issues not only with the rates, but also with Pluris’ quality of water, the company’s billing service and the utility’s overall customer service.

“It’s about more than just the cost,” Logan explains. “But, I think this (decision) should solve most of our problems. Some of the rates are more, and some (of the rates) are less. Basically, we’re paying about the same. The real relief will come when we become Hillsborough County utility customers.”

Meanwhile, Commissioner Crist says that negotiations between the county and Pluris were to begin immediately, but that he had no additional information available about those discussions as we went to press with this issue.

For more information about Pluris’ Pebble Creek service, please visit PlurisCompanies.com.