In Hillsborough, will you pay more for water, trash, drainage?

The costs of turning on the tap, taking the trash to the curb and digging out the drainage ditch are proposed to go up in Hillsborough County.

Commissioners are considering separate proposals to increase water rates and the annual assessments for solid waste and stormwater in the wake of inflation, increased operating expenses and higher-than-anticipated material and construction costs for needed maintenance and expansion projects.

The largest of the increases, at least initially, to be passed on to the public is the solid waste assessment, proposed to jump 24% beginning Oct. 1.

“It’s outrageous,” Charlotte Greenbargof Lutz said about the solid waste proposal. “They’re not giving us any more service.”

She objected to increased trash rates in previous years and said she planned to lobby commissioners to oppose the newest proposal.

Under the plan, a proposed 24% increase in its annual solid waste assessment brings the cost to $437.51 on Oct. 1. That’s an increase of $84.72 over the current assessment of $352.79. The county breaks down the assessment into two separate charges: one for picking up the trash and a second cost to dispose of it. The current assessment has been in effect since Oct. 1, 2021.

The county has 318,000 residential trash customers served by three private hauling companies. The county owns and private contractors operate a landfill, a trash-burning plant and other facilities to dispose of garbage, yard brush, hazardous waste and recyclable materials.

Taking out the trash was just one of the utility costs discussed in a commission workshop Thursday.

A residential water customer now pays $93.38 for using 6,000 gallons each month. Under previously approved rate increases, that will jump 4% Oct. 1 and again on Oct. 1, 2025, bringing the cost in two years to $103.30.

Proposed rate increases of 4% annually for the 12 following years would bring that monthly cost to $201.86 on Oct. 1, 2036, a 116% increase over the current rate. Other possible options include a seven-year increase of 5% annually to reach $163 on Oct. 1, 2031, or a 7% jump annually for two years that would drop to a 4% hike in each of the following five years. That would put the monthly bill at $161.47, also on Oct. 1, 2031.

“I’m trying to have less sticker shock to the folks in my district as possible,” said Commissioner Michael Owen.

He and others asked the staff to present additional options before a planned August public hearing.

The county has added approximately 6,000 new customers each year since 2015. It now has more than 200,000 customer accounts, serving more than 665,000 people. The influx is projected to continue with 14,000 new residents expected each year, primarily in the rapidly developing south county.

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For drainage, the county proposes raising the annual fee for a medium-sized single-family home by $5.06, a 6% increase over the current assessment of $81.43. Smaller homes and mobile homes pay less. Two years ago, commissioners killed a planned increase and used COVID-19 relief dollars to make up the difference.

The current assessment raises $34.3 million a year and the county uses that money, plus $20 million from its general revenue budget, to replace pipes, clean ditches, repair culverts and take other measures to curb potential flooding. If approved, the new, higher assessment will be the second installment of a planned multiyear increase. The plan calls for the annual assessment to reach $96.62 on Oct. 1, 2025.