Lake Worth Water & Sewer

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Of the cities depicted on this graph, Lake Worth has the 5th highest rate.

The East Central Regional Water Reclamation Facility (ECRWRF) is funded and governed by a board comprised of the representatives of the entities served by that facility:
 City of West Palm Beach
 City of Lake Worth
 City of Riviera Beach
 Town of Palm Beach
 Palm Beach County.

**On to water rates--Where's there a will, there's a way--

Burton and Associates that did the projections says that the five-year rate adjustments proposed by the FY 2015 RSA have been reduced in the FY 2016 RSA because the City was able to secure SRF funding for the 2” water main replacement projects rather than rely on funding from a revenue bond, which had been the assumed strategy in the FY 2015 RSA.

If you recall we were going to spend  $14 million to replace all the 2 inch water pipes if the general obligation bond had passed. The SRF loan offered a 30 year financing with substantially lower interest rates. As a result, total debt service expenses of the system decreased, allowing for a reduction to rate adjustments.

The five-year rate adjustment plan developed in the FY 2016 RSA is as follows:

Water Rate Adjustment
2016--3.50%
2017--3.50%
2018--3.00%
2019--3.00%
2020--3.00%
Avg. Res. Bill (5,000 GAL)
2016--$30.77
2017--$31.86
2018--$32.80
2019--$33.80
2020--$34.81

With an average bill usage of 5,000 GAL, Vice Mayor Maxwell voted against the rates and fees for the Water System saying,

 "This is the "consequence of the financial mess at the beach."

~ Scott Maxwell

Of course, he was all gung ho in getting all the property owners in debt on their ad valorem for 34 years. He also said that the loan term to ourselves for the casino was changed to 17 year from 13. (We buy our water from West Palm Beach at the beach). NO one on the dais corrected these huge mistakes. Perhaps it's easier to ignore gaffes (there are many from a few on the dais) but unfortunately some in the public will believe them.