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High water bills: St. Pete leaders vote to stop late fees, water shut offs after resident complaints

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Published  February 6, 2025 9:22pm EST
St. Petersburg
FOX 13 News

St. Petersburg City Council addresses water bills

Genevieve Curtis reports.

The Brief

    • St. Pete City Council voted to stop all late fees and won't be shutting off anyone's water after residents continue to receive high water bills.
    • They also agreed to move the issue to a full council meeting to make code changes that will allow them to better help customers.
    • The water department said they are confident there are no leaks on the city's side that would contribute to the problem.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - St. Petersburg's city council took action to deal with extremely high water bills that residents are continuing to receive on Thursday. 

Big picture view:

Council members voted to stop all late fees immediately and will not be shutting off anyone's water. They also agreed to move this to a full council meeting to make code changes that will allow them to better help customers with high water bills. 

RELATED: Attorney calls for audit into St. Pete’s irregular water bills, city leaders to take up issue Thursday

What they're saying:

Dozens of residents attended Thursday's meeting and spoke during public comment. 

"I contacted the city, they said hire a plumber, find a leak and prove that you cleared it. I didn’t hire a plumber because there was no leak. I don’t know what went on, but apparently a lot of people had this problem. A $1,500 water bill in one month is outrageous," said Don Legron, a St. Pete resident. 

FOX 13 has also been contacted by nearly 100 residents with similar stories. All are dealing with the same issue of getting extremely high water bills, being told to hire a plumber and check for leaks, finding no leaks in their homes and still getting stuck with bills in the thousands of dollars.

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Council members on Thursday said they are all hearing the same complaints from their neighbors, but January 29 was the first time they received a memo on it from the city's administration. 

The other side:

The water department couldn't tell the city council how many customers have been impacted, how many have disputed their water bills or how many bills have been resolved. All they could say is that they are confident there are no leaks on the city's side that would contribute to the problem. 

Given the current process, though, one council member pointed out there's no accountability for something that could very well be the city's fault. 

MORE: Homeowner gets $6,000 water bill amid irregular bills in St. Pete

"What if we really did make a mistake? What if it really is on us?" City Council Member Deborah Figgs-Sanders said. "That is not a ‘my bad' moment. I didn’t hear anywhere in that presentation where we investigate."

The water department also said there are about 1,200 customers who have not received a bill since the hurricanes because of the anomalies that they found. They are still working through sorting out those bills. 

What's next:

A local attorney has called for an audit of these high water bills, but there was no discussion of an audit during Thursday's council meeting. However, council does plan on taking this issue to the next City of the Whole meeting, which will be later this month. 

The Source: The information in this story was gathered during a St. Pete city council meeting. 

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