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Woman opposes paying vacant property utilities bill inside city
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| JASON MATTHEW WALKER/Lake City Reporter |
City: ‘Availability of water’ is reason for issuing bill.
By JEFF M. HARDISON
jhardison@lakecityreporter.com
A Lake City property owner believes the city went too far by opening an account in her name and charging her for water and sewer service at a vacant house she owns.
Regina M. Corns of Archer said she stopped water and sewer service, and she closed her utility account with the city for her vacant house at 618 SE Monroe St.
Nonetheless, the city sent her a letter on Aug. 21 noting its intent to collect $46.22 a month for “the availability of water and sewer service in the form of a ready to serve charge.” That is $16.01 for water and $30.21 for sewer.
If Corns owned a vacant house outside the city limits, the monthly “availability” fee for water and sewer would be $57.78 — $20.01 for water and $37.77 for sewer.
Lake City applies availability fees to all vacant residential and commercial properties in its regional utility area, whether inside or outside of the city.
“Lake City Regional Utility, in accordance with the city ordinance, has activated a utility account in your name,” the letter said, because Corns owns the house on Monroe Street.
Corns said she has owned the house in Lake City for seven or eight years. After turning off water service and closing the account, she thought her requirement to pay for utilities was done. She was incorrect in that belief, according to the city.
Corns grew up at this house in Lake City, she said, and the house was first connected to city water and sewer service about 40 or 50 years ago.
Therefore, Corns is not creating a new demand, she said.
“I am ready to hire an attorney before I pay Lake City almost $600 a year for water and sewer service on a vacant house,” Corns said. “I plan to sell the house, but if you look around the neighborhood you will see many other houses there are for sale now.”
In her opinion, this fee appears to be cause for a class action suit against the city. She is wondering about other vacant property owners who are being charged just for the “availability” of service. They would be in a class of people, she said, who are in her opinion being unfairly charged.
Corns said almost $50 a month for just being able to have water and sewer service is unreasonable. That’s $600 a year for nothing. If the fee was $10 a month, that would be different, she added.
Lake City Mayor Stephen Witt explained the legislative intent when the City Council created the vacant property fee.
“When we set rates for water, sewer, impact fees and the like, we hire a company to do a rate study,” Witt said. “The company takes information from data
here to find out what is required to pay the utility, in the city and out of the city,
commercial and residential.
“The company that did this study said it is a common practice around the state to charge for availability of service,” he said. “Say someone is here for six months and they go up north for six months. It costs us to have the service available.”
The city of Marianna, which is similar in size to Lake City, does not charge for inactive accounts, according to Brenda Gay, utility clerk. A spokeswoman in the finance department of Live Oak said the same is true there — no activity, no charge.
The mayor said the city needs to know how much water and sewer capacity it has accessible for use as it grows. A subdivision developer may come to the city
and say he or she needs 50,000 gallons of service a day, Witt said.
The city obligates itself for that
50,000-gallon capacity, for instance, Witt said. If the developer does not build structures, though, then the capacity that has been pledged is not available for other users. This is why those agreements have a one-year time limit, he said.
Another reason for this fee on vacant property, Witt said, is to help assure the city’s ability to repay bonds that were sold to finance the utility system.
“We try to be fair to all the residents,” Witt said, “and distribute rates properly. We’ve talked about having another rate study to determine if we will continue with the availability charge.”
The mayor said there is no timeline on that possible study. Witt added that the city may also look at the surcharge currently being charged to utility customers outside of the city limits.
Attempts to determine how much money is derived from vacant property accounts was not available as City Manager Scott Reynolds and City Finance Director Dorothy Tyre did not return calls from the Lake City Reporter Monday morning and afternoon.
Regina M. Corns of Archer said she stopped water and sewer service, and she closed her utility account with the city for her vacant house at 618 SE Monroe St.
Nonetheless, the city sent her a letter on Aug. 21 noting its intent to collect $46.22 a month for “the availability of water and sewer service in the form of a ready to serve charge.” That is $16.01 for water and $30.21 for sewer.
If Corns owned a vacant house outside the city limits, the monthly “availability” fee for water and sewer would be $57.78 — $20.01 for water and $37.77 for sewer.
Lake City applies availability fees to all vacant residential and commercial properties in its regional utility area, whether inside or outside of the city.
“Lake City Regional Utility, in accordance with the city ordinance, has activated a utility account in your name,” the letter said, because Corns owns the house on Monroe Street.
Corns said she has owned the house in Lake City for seven or eight years. After turning off water service and closing the account, she thought her requirement to pay for utilities was done. She was incorrect in that belief, according to the city.
Corns grew up at this house in Lake City, she said, and the house was first connected to city water and sewer service about 40 or 50 years ago.
Therefore, Corns is not creating a new demand, she said.
“I am ready to hire an attorney before I pay Lake City almost $600 a year for water and sewer service on a vacant house,” Corns said. “I plan to sell the house, but if you look around the neighborhood you will see many other houses there are for sale now.”
In her opinion, this fee appears to be cause for a class action suit against the city. She is wondering about other vacant property owners who are being charged just for the “availability” of service. They would be in a class of people, she said, who are in her opinion being unfairly charged.
Corns said almost $50 a month for just being able to have water and sewer service is unreasonable. That’s $600 a year for nothing. If the fee was $10 a month, that would be different, she added.
Lake City Mayor Stephen Witt explained the legislative intent when the City Council created the vacant property fee.
“When we set rates for water, sewer, impact fees and the like, we hire a company to do a rate study,” Witt said. “The company takes information from data
here to find out what is required to pay the utility, in the city and out of the city,
commercial and residential.
“The company that did this study said it is a common practice around the state to charge for availability of service,” he said. “Say someone is here for six months and they go up north for six months. It costs us to have the service available.”
The city of Marianna, which is similar in size to Lake City, does not charge for inactive accounts, according to Brenda Gay, utility clerk. A spokeswoman in the finance department of Live Oak said the same is true there — no activity, no charge.
The mayor said the city needs to know how much water and sewer capacity it has accessible for use as it grows. A subdivision developer may come to the city
and say he or she needs 50,000 gallons of service a day, Witt said.
The city obligates itself for that
50,000-gallon capacity, for instance, Witt said. If the developer does not build structures, though, then the capacity that has been pledged is not available for other users. This is why those agreements have a one-year time limit, he said.
Another reason for this fee on vacant property, Witt said, is to help assure the city’s ability to repay bonds that were sold to finance the utility system.
“We try to be fair to all the residents,” Witt said, “and distribute rates properly. We’ve talked about having another rate study to determine if we will continue with the availability charge.”
The mayor said there is no timeline on that possible study. Witt added that the city may also look at the surcharge currently being charged to utility customers outside of the city limits.
Attempts to determine how much money is derived from vacant property accounts was not available as City Manager Scott Reynolds and City Finance Director Dorothy Tyre did not return calls from the Lake City Reporter Monday morning and afternoon.
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Waaaaaa wrote on Sep 23, 2008 7:02 AM: