City of Fort Pierce to FPUA: Increase the Revenue

On December 21, the City of Fort Pierce Commission, in a special meeting (not televised and without public comment) voted to approve resolutions that would increase water, waste water and gas rates, increase the transfer from the FPUA to the City, allow the utility to use the Public Services Commission index to set future rates, and most importantly, prevent future rate decreases. The Commission renewed its quest for more revenue from the utility last summer when city commissioners, acting with information provided by city finance staff, directed the utility to move all or a portion of its Power Cost Adjustment (a month-to-month additional charge based on fluctuating fuel costs and a pass-through cost from the utility to the Florida Municipal Power Agency, FMPA). After a series of meetings, the FPUA agreed, with the caveat that even though there might not be immediate increases in electric rates, the utility would be unable to reduce rates, as it had planned to do in April of 2012. Bottom line: the city will get an additional $1.5 million to spend each year that will come directly from the ratepayers. The city is facing budget shortfalls in 2013 and 2014. At the December 19 city commission meeting, on the consent agenda, the commission voted to give each employee a $100 Christmas bonus (total of $35,100), and voted for a $15,000 reimbursement to Main Street for the money spent on the Christmas Parade on December 4, 2011.