LEE COUNTY, Fla. — Lee County Commissioners are looking at three possible utility rate increases that would start this year.
During a workshop, Lee County leaders said the proposed increase is due in part to inflation and repairing water plants damaged by Hurricane Ian.
Here is a breakdown of the proposed rates.
Option 1 would bump up the average monthly bill for 2023 by $9.05 and increase by 11.5% each year for the next three years.
The average customer's monthly water bill would cost $109.04 by 2025.
Option 2 is similar, but with an 8% rate increase, each year, over the next five years.
That would increase this year’s adjusted average monthly bill of $84.93 to $115.61 dollars by 2027.
Option 3 increases this year's rate by 12% in 2023 but then decreases the percentage each year over the next five years.
The 2023 new average bill would be increased to $88.05 a month and increase to an average bill of $112.11 per month by 2027.
Those are numbers that homeowners like Ron Geik who lives in North Fort Myers said don't make sense when he is already looking for other ways to cut costs while rebuilding after Ian.
“Any kind of extra expense for us would be bad now because this is gonna either come out of savings or retirement,” said Geik.
The decision on the rate increases will be made at a later meeting.
